In 1972, more than 40 years ago, Bernie wrote an essay addressing gender roles in society. Let's be clear: This was NOT a fantasy that Bernie wrote down. The essay talks about gender roles, stereotypes and his view on how these entrenched views generate hostility. No amount of smearing, or logical fallacies will turn this into anything deplorable. Actually reading the essay will quickly make that clear. Part of the essay reads ""Have you ever looked at the Stag, Man, Hero, Tough magazines on the shelf of your local bookstore? Do you know why the newspaper with the articles like 'Girl 12 raped by 14 men' sell so well? To what in us are they appealing?"

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The Snopes piece prominently featuring a single titillating sentence quoted out of context followed by the Snopes judgement of "true" emblazoned in large green letters was framed in a way that obviously leads many to misconstrue the Snopes "true" verdict to mean that Bernie wrote rape fantasy porn, when the complete opposite is true. In his short essay, Bernie makes it clear that he deplores these fantasies among men and women alike, such that have often been reported by the psychological community over the years (full essay in comments below). The essay delves into the notion of liberating people from harmful gender norms. It's very feminist in nature. I repeat: the essay is anything but rape fantasy porn.

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Charles C. W. Cook said it best when he was quoted as saying "Nobody honestly believes that Bernie Sanders is a sexual pervert or that he is a misogynist or that he intends to do women any harm. Nobody suspects that he harbors a secret desire to pass intrusive legislation or to cut gang rapists a break. Really, there is only one reason that anyone would make hay of this story, and that is to damage the man politically."

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