I am still adjusting to my new level of busyness, but when I have spare moments, I find myself turning to coverage of Brett Kavanaugh and the women who have accused him of sexual assault and misconduct. At this point, three such women have come forward. I believe all of them, but I chose to focus the title of this blog post on Dr. Christine Blasey Ford because she spent the day testifying before the Senate and we know the most about her experience.
Why do I so firmly believe her? After all, I wasn't a witness to what happened.
Two reasons:
1. Sexual assault is so extremely prevalent in our society that it does not surprise me when I hear that someone was assaulted.
2. She had absolutely no incentive to fabricate this. From all outward appearances, she has had an extremely successful adult life. Since coming forward with her allegations against Kavanaugh, she has experienced harassment and threats. Why would she throw her own life into utter disarray, aside from a sense of civic duty?
Why am I so interested in this case?
1. Because while I don't share Ford's exact experience, I've had other bad experiences with harassment and aggression from men. The MeToo movement has shown me just how common such experiences are, and it makes me angry. How much more mental energy would women have if we weren't trying to avoid harassment and aggression or trying to mentally recover from experiencing it? What could we collectively accomplish with that additional mental energy? What would life be like if women's bodies were not so routinely treated like public property?
2. Because I resent the implications some have made that the fact that Kavanaugh was a teenager at the time somehow makes it okay to assault someone. Sure, he can move on from that...but what about Ford? She has had to live with this experience her whole life. The fact that she was a teenager at the time does not make it any better for her.
3. Because we are talking about making a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court. It's a foregone conclusion that I'm not going to be thrilled with anyone Trump nominates. But the risk of a Supreme Court justice who attempted to rape someone--yes, even decades ago--is unacceptable. Surely there are other people he could choose from, and surely not all of them have a history of violence.
4. Because I'm appalled at how little we have progressed as a society. I was in sixth grade when Anita Hill testified that Clarence Thomas had repeatedly sexually harassed her on the job. Though I was still young at the time, I remember the skepticism she encountered. Actually, one of my most vivid memories of that time is my (female) social studies teacher that year speculating that Hill had had a crush on Thomas and was acting out of unrequited love. I would have hoped than in the intervening 26 years, our society would have become more enlightened. I'm not asking for anyone to automatically believe anyone who brings forward allegations of sexual misconduct or assault, but I do wish that everyone would seriously consider them. At a bare minimum, people who bring forward such allegations should not have to fear for their own safety.
The United States deserves better than this. I deeply admire all the women who have come forward to try to ensure that we get better than this in the end.
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