Presidential candidate receives backlash for writing "rape fantasy" fiction

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An essay written by Bernie Sanders has been making the rounds of the internet, and it does not bode well for his stance on women’s issues.

The essay, in which Sanders describes a woman fantasizing about “being raped by 3 men simultaneously,” also talks about male fantasies described as typical: “A woman on her knees, a woman tied up, a woman abused.” He also goes on to ask: “Do you know why the newspapers with articles like ‘Girl, 12, raped by 14 men’ sell so well? To what in us are they appealing?”

However, the Sanders camp is distancing itself from the essay, saying that it was an “attempt at dark satire” aimed at “attack gender stereotypes in the 1970s” that in “no way reflects his views or record on women.”

His record since then on women’s issues has been firmly for women’s rights, especially in cases of rape. He has been part of the Prison Rape Elimination Act in 2003, the Justice for Survivors of Sexual Assault Act in 2011 and the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act in 2012. He has also campaigned for Congress to “step up efforts to provide care and benefits for veterans who experienced sexual assault in the military.”

So the question is this: which version of Sanders’ beliefs do you believe is the truth? Do his actions speak louder than his essays’s words?

Sunday on Meet the Press, Chuck Todd asked the presidential hopeful about the recent backlash.

“That was 43 years ago,” Sanders said. “It was very poorly written, and if you read it, what it was dealing with was gender stereotypes — why some men like to oppress women, why other women like to be submissive. You know, something like 50 Shades of Grey.”