Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vt) landed himself in hot water after an old essay of his, in which he described the sexual fantasies of men and the rape fantasies of women, emerged. His campaign spokesman says four decades old work was a satire.
The information about the essay, published in an alternative publication the Vermont Freeman in 1972, appeared in Mother Jones story on Sander’s early political career. His campaign spokesman, Michael Briggs, told CNN that the essay was a “dumb attempt at dark satire in an alternative publication,” and that the writing “in no way reflects his views or record on women. It was intended to attack gender stereotypes of the ‘70s.”
Bernie Sanders Wrote Women Fantasize About Being Raped; Scott Walker to Sign Abortion Ban Even In Rape, Incest Cases http://t.co/KgLLlj9gLA
— Women's eNews (@Womens_eNews) May 29, 2015
The essay, an attempt at exploring male-female sexual dynamics,
entitled Man and Woman, opens with a description of the fantasies
of men and women.
“A man goes home and masturbates his typical fantasy. A woman
on her knees, a woman tied, a woman abused. A woman enjoys
intercourse with her man – as she fantasizes being raped by 3 men
simultaneously,” wrote Sanders in the essay. The essay has a
stream-of-consciousness style, incomplete sentences, incomplete
dialogue, and takes on big themes of gender roles, sexuality and
female submissiveness. The essay ends with the dialogue between a
man and a woman on their deteriorating relationship.
“When Bernie got into this race he understood there would be
attempts to distract voters from the real issues,” Briggs
told CNN. “He is determined to run a campaign that takes on
big issues facing the American people and not a campaign of
salacious gossip or anything like that.”
Mother Jones published another article on Friday with an
opinion piece written by Sanders in the University of Chicago
campus newspaper advocating for sexual liberalization when he in
college in 1963.
“The administrators of this university have the right to
believe that unmarried students should not engage in sexual
intercourse. ... However, it is inconceivable and intolerable
that these men should have the right to forcibly impose their
moral, social, and sexual beliefs on the 2000 student of the
college,” he wrote.
Sanders is running for the democratic nomination in the 2016
presidential race up against former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton. A Quinnipiac University poll on Thursday said Sanders is
polling at 15 percent, with Clinton at 57 percent among
Democratic voters nationwide. He continues a campaign kickoff
tour this week in New Hampshire and Iowa.