Story highlights Laura Bates: Different forms of prejudice are deeply ingrained within our society

She says Trump voicing such ideas runs risk of reaffirming them as socially acceptable

Laura Bates is the founder of the Everyday Sexism Project and author of "Everyday Sexism." The project has amassed more than 100,000 testimonies of gender inequality worldwide and expanded to branches in 25 countries. Bates writes regularly for The Guardian, Time, International Business Times and others. She is contributor for Women Under Siege, a Women's Media Center initiative dedicated to tackling rape in conflict zones worldwide. The opinions expressed in this commentary are hers.

(CNN) A man who has called women pigs, dogs and slobs, who has discussed underage girls in a sexual manner, who has joked and boasted about sexual assault, who has smeared Mexicans, who has twice been sued over racial discrimination, who led the "birther" movement and who suggested that Muslims should not be allowed into the country, has a real chance of becoming the next president of the United States.

This is public validation, at the highest level, of some of the most abhorrent prejudices and beliefs existing in our society. That somebody voicing such hatred, so publicly, has faced relatively little significant recrimination and instead stands on the verge of the most powerful office in the world has terrifying implications.

Laura Bates

Different forms of prejudice, many exemplified by Donald Trump at various points in his campaign, run deeply ingrained within our society. They are brushed off and glossed over, dismissed as jokes or banter, and normalized through a sense of social acceptability. Trump was even able to bluster his way out of the release of taped comments about grabbing women "by the p---y" by dismissing them as "locker room talk."

There is a real risk that when someone so popular, powerful and high profile voices these ideas so openly, they are reaffirmed as socially acceptable. Trump has been hailed by many as a brave champion voicing unpopular but widespread opinions in a world where "political correctness" has gone mad.

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When it comes to sexism, Trump has used his platform to reinforce prejudice in many of the areas women have battled for decades to challenge public perception. He has suggested that women should be judged and valued according to their looks. He has implied that we are irrational and hysterical while on our periods, impacting on job performance. He has floated the possibility of punishing us for daring to take control of our own reproductive systems. He has claimed that women making allegations of sexual abuse are liars.