The Honorable Man and the Lying Woman
Christine Blasey Ford is hardly the first woman to speak out against a powerful man such as Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court nominee in the areas of sexual harassment and assault. There are various responses to accusations we hear at different times.
Initially, of course, their are attempts to dig up dirt on and belittle the accuser. If she has anything in her past which might make her look anything but "the perfect chaste woman" the focus is pushed on her, rather than the accused. She must become the accused, replacing the man.
Commonly this works. The woman has been married multiple times. The woman has been fired from a job under questionable circumstances. The woman is a "gold digger" looking for financial gain. The woman is trying to hide something - anything. Why did the woman bring this up now, rather than at the time of the alleged incident?
So far Ms. Ford's only "blemish" seems to be that she could be "mentally unbalanced" because she has sought mental health support. So far, this seems like a stretch.
At the same time there often are moves as there are now to say that the current circumstances are So Important that we must move forward. The end goal is Much More Important than this much smaller issue. It is most important that a "Conservative Court" be in place now, especially because the Republicans seem likely to lose significant control of Congress in elections less than two months from now which might hinder a replacement nominee.
The Republican leadership has the potential power now to force Kavanaugh onto the Supreme Court. It is strange how the Powerful are nearly always most important and others such as women, whether a particular woman such as Christine Blasey Ford, or women in general are less important or not important at all.
There is a problem here though! The Republican control of the senate is potentially tenuous. If one or more Republicans resist the pressures on them to "support the cause", the tide may turn very quickly. There are several women - Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski who sometimes have a conscience on moral issues where they can't be counted upon by Republican leadership pressures.
It is, of course, notable - when the issues relate to Gender, that the Male senators and others in the public eye seem Slower - to see the problems as important. It is No Coincidence that Joe Biden defended Clarence Thomas in the 1991 confirmation hearings, despite his more recent insights as a man supporting women.
Obviously now - the potential losses to the Republicans in the upcoming elections, have forced their hand, making the potential dangers to them too great, so on the surface at least - a delay in the votes at least has become necessary. They have the hope - that next Monday's hearings - with Kavanaugh and Ford both testifying will result in a "He says, She says" - one word against the other - where Ford may "not prove" - her case and Kavanaugh's name can prove Solid, as it has in the past on other issues.
As part of this effort there often are attempts to show how impossible the accusation is for this Honorable Man. He is such a Good Person. Just look at his past. He has been so respectful of so many women. He couldn't possibly do a bad thing or multiple bad things.
Increasingly the "Me Too" movement has exposed the fallacy of this argument. Many Men have been found to have dramatic inconsistencies in their public personas and actions related to sex and/or power - and women.
It is unclear what the outcome will be (probably) next week on the current matter. History has shown that the power of the Man and his Male Handlers and supporters usually has triumphed. Usually the Woman is made into the False Accuser and the Man either triumphs as the Falsely Accused Real Man or at times he scrapes by as - "perhaps not perfect, but definitely ok" (for this).
So far, the Old Ways don't seem so sure of success now.
Perhaps we are moving towards a day when the The Thomas Jefferson's of this world won't readily triumph over the Mother Teresa's - who seemingly "have no sins". It will likely take a lot longer for such Men to face justice over the Sally Hemings's (his Black Slave Mistress) or a little more recently Strom Thurmond's bi-racial daughter of a 22 year old Thurmond and his family's 16 year old maid who at 78 (after Thurmond's death) - spoke out publicly for the first time because she didn't want to interfere with his public career and family.
It is unfortunately "funny" how things have both changed a lot and not changed at all. The rape victim - who speaking out is portrayed as: "Easy to make a False Accusation" - when 99.9% of the time the accuser has had to overcome horrible fears of Not being believed and the extreme likelihood that she will be re-victimized by the police or on the witness stand. She may also lose her job or lose friendships (or even a relationship with her partner who can not take the pressures that develop in the relationship as a result of her speaking out). In extreme cases she may face the threat of violence or even death.
In the end, regardless of the outcome of this case, we face the truism that things will Not change (enough) towards equality until issues such this become "Men's" or "Human" issues, no longer being simply Women's Issues. Because of the relative power of Women (re: Men) in comparison to Blacks and other People of Color - Racism and particularly Racist Violence - will become an issue further down the line - when Racism is a White Issue - not simply a Black issue.
We've come a long way, but we've got a serious ways to go! Thanks!
Initially, of course, their are attempts to dig up dirt on and belittle the accuser. If she has anything in her past which might make her look anything but "the perfect chaste woman" the focus is pushed on her, rather than the accused. She must become the accused, replacing the man.
Commonly this works. The woman has been married multiple times. The woman has been fired from a job under questionable circumstances. The woman is a "gold digger" looking for financial gain. The woman is trying to hide something - anything. Why did the woman bring this up now, rather than at the time of the alleged incident?
So far Ms. Ford's only "blemish" seems to be that she could be "mentally unbalanced" because she has sought mental health support. So far, this seems like a stretch.
At the same time there often are moves as there are now to say that the current circumstances are So Important that we must move forward. The end goal is Much More Important than this much smaller issue. It is most important that a "Conservative Court" be in place now, especially because the Republicans seem likely to lose significant control of Congress in elections less than two months from now which might hinder a replacement nominee.
The Republican leadership has the potential power now to force Kavanaugh onto the Supreme Court. It is strange how the Powerful are nearly always most important and others such as women, whether a particular woman such as Christine Blasey Ford, or women in general are less important or not important at all.
There is a problem here though! The Republican control of the senate is potentially tenuous. If one or more Republicans resist the pressures on them to "support the cause", the tide may turn very quickly. There are several women - Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski who sometimes have a conscience on moral issues where they can't be counted upon by Republican leadership pressures.
It is, of course, notable - when the issues relate to Gender, that the Male senators and others in the public eye seem Slower - to see the problems as important. It is No Coincidence that Joe Biden defended Clarence Thomas in the 1991 confirmation hearings, despite his more recent insights as a man supporting women.
Obviously now - the potential losses to the Republicans in the upcoming elections, have forced their hand, making the potential dangers to them too great, so on the surface at least - a delay in the votes at least has become necessary. They have the hope - that next Monday's hearings - with Kavanaugh and Ford both testifying will result in a "He says, She says" - one word against the other - where Ford may "not prove" - her case and Kavanaugh's name can prove Solid, as it has in the past on other issues.
As part of this effort there often are attempts to show how impossible the accusation is for this Honorable Man. He is such a Good Person. Just look at his past. He has been so respectful of so many women. He couldn't possibly do a bad thing or multiple bad things.
Increasingly the "Me Too" movement has exposed the fallacy of this argument. Many Men have been found to have dramatic inconsistencies in their public personas and actions related to sex and/or power - and women.
It is unclear what the outcome will be (probably) next week on the current matter. History has shown that the power of the Man and his Male Handlers and supporters usually has triumphed. Usually the Woman is made into the False Accuser and the Man either triumphs as the Falsely Accused Real Man or at times he scrapes by as - "perhaps not perfect, but definitely ok" (for this).
So far, the Old Ways don't seem so sure of success now.
Perhaps we are moving towards a day when the The Thomas Jefferson's of this world won't readily triumph over the Mother Teresa's - who seemingly "have no sins". It will likely take a lot longer for such Men to face justice over the Sally Hemings's (his Black Slave Mistress) or a little more recently Strom Thurmond's bi-racial daughter of a 22 year old Thurmond and his family's 16 year old maid who at 78 (after Thurmond's death) - spoke out publicly for the first time because she didn't want to interfere with his public career and family.
It is unfortunately "funny" how things have both changed a lot and not changed at all. The rape victim - who speaking out is portrayed as: "Easy to make a False Accusation" - when 99.9% of the time the accuser has had to overcome horrible fears of Not being believed and the extreme likelihood that she will be re-victimized by the police or on the witness stand. She may also lose her job or lose friendships (or even a relationship with her partner who can not take the pressures that develop in the relationship as a result of her speaking out). In extreme cases she may face the threat of violence or even death.
In the end, regardless of the outcome of this case, we face the truism that things will Not change (enough) towards equality until issues such this become "Men's" or "Human" issues, no longer being simply Women's Issues. Because of the relative power of Women (re: Men) in comparison to Blacks and other People of Color - Racism and particularly Racist Violence - will become an issue further down the line - when Racism is a White Issue - not simply a Black issue.
We've come a long way, but we've got a serious ways to go! Thanks!
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