Next week is going to be incredibly ugly. For a lot of middle-aged white men, this has always been their greatest fear about #MeToo: that a position of unaccountable power could be denied to them on the say so of some woman they've long forgotten existed, from high-school.
These men are not going to understand why some of us are so dismissive of their concerns. "This happened in high school!" they'll say.
I cannot imagine the amount of privilege it must take to think that things that happened in high school *cannot* be used against you.
I cannot imagine the amount of privilege it must take to think that things that happened in high school *cannot* be used against you.
Minorities know about high school. Things don't get swept up under the rug for us in high school, so for most of us, if we've made it to a position of power or respectability our "permanent records" are either clean, or we've already paid the price. If we survived high-school.
Women know too. One thing #MeToo should have taught you is that the kind of harassment they face starts *early*. Shaming starts *early.* The consequences of sexual reproduction must be considered *early*.
"women mature faster" is evolutionary protection for what we do to them.
"women mature faster" is evolutionary protection for what we do to them.
This imagine of high-school as a consequence free training period -- where mistakes are made and then never spoken of again -- exists almost exclusively in the minds of privileged white men. For most everybody else, any "mistakes" in high-school have already lasted a lifetime.
Next week, some white men are going to realize that high-school is back on the table, and they'll react viciously. I will not feel sorry for them, or excuse their rancor.
I will empathize with Ms. Ford, who already knows how high school can impact the rest of your life.
I will empathize with Ms. Ford, who already knows how high school can impact the rest of your life.
