On Sunday, October 9 at the second Presidential Debate, Republican candidate Donald Trump defended lewd and sexually aggressive comments caught on tape as “locker room talk.”

After Trump’s comments made headlines, we spoke with a few Malvern coaches and athletes who have witnessed or been part of conversations in locker rooms. We asked a few questions:

“What do you consider locker room talk?”

and

“Do you think Donald Trump’s comments were locker room talk?”

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Mr. Aaron Brady

Head Football Coach

“I think locker room talk is something that you think is going to stay in the locker room. People say things they probably would not say if they know a lot of people are going to hear it. As you get older, you really should think about everything you say because anything you say is going to be out in the open at one point. It is hard to keep secrets.

The definition of locker room talk for me is that it is the special time with your friends and the guys you play with. It is a time to relax and just enjoy each other. It is friendly banter that does not really mean anything. You can just joke around with each other.

Personally, I would never talk like that.”

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Mr. John Harmatuk

Head Basketball Coach

“Locker Room talk can just be kids messing around with each other. Sometimes they break off into little groups and talk to each other. If the subject material becomes more serious they’ll break off into little groups and discuss that privately.

Boys are obviously talking about girls in the locker room… are they talking about physically touching or doing something inappropriate? No, but talking about whether they think someone is attractive or not, yes. I think there’s a difference between the two.”

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Mr. Joe Redican

Retired Teacher/Coach

“I think that what Donald Trump said was disgusting, inappropriate and not locker room talk.

If you are talking about locker room talk, in a guy’s locker room, it is guys busting on each other. Could it be inappropriate comments? Absolutely. I do not condone those, and if I am there I would try to correct that.

What you do when no one is around is really what you believe. If we asked students to give in their cell phones and we would look through them, then I bet there would be a lot of cell phones thrown out the window.”

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Mr. Kurt Ruch

Athletic Director

“No not at all. I don’t agree with what he’s saying, that all men are like that in what they’re talking about. If we’re specifically talking about Malvern men, I dont think that’s what they would do in the locker room. Locker Room talk is when you’re quoting a movie or joking around about it. That’s locker room talk to me, not what you’re putting down a woman or when you’re putting down another person.”

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Jerry Curran

Varsity Football Captain

“Locker Room talk is just guys fooling around. In the football locker room, I definitely feel that we are mature about what we talk about and do not let things get too out of hand.”

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Michael Fay

Varsity Wide Receiver

“Locker room talk is no different than talking with your friends in school or in general. The locker room is just another space where you can bond with teammates. It is often the spot where all of the team relationships are first formed.

Donald Trump’s view on ‘locker room talk’ does not pertain to Malvern in any fashion and it is morally unacceptable in my eyes.”

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Mr. Andrew Burke

Social Studies Teacher

“I played college football for two years, and locker room talk does not happen that way. That type of graphic language where you are describing essentially sexual assault has never taken place in my experience. If someone spoke that way, they would have been dealt with. If that happened, people would intercede. That type of behavior just does not really happen.

Most locker room talk is joking about the day, joking about the practice. If anyone spoke that way, people would shut them down.

Now, that’s not to say that this type of conversation is what you would hear in the chapel, but it would never get out of hand like this. Most people are insecure about their sexuality anyway, so you would not get that type of talk in a locker room, ever.”

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