Kavanaugh accusers are harming those who were raped hotair.com/archives/2018/…
“I hate the word “victim,” and avoid it all costs. It is not who I am, no matter how many times anyone may say the term applies to me because of my past. When it comes to the Kavanaugh accusations, I cringe every time something new hits the headlines.”
“It’s not because I think there might be a credible accusation. That dread comes from the fact that each headline – each accusation and new accuser – pushes the entire narrative about rape at least a step or two back.”
“We managed to (almost) get beyond the point of putting those who were raped on trial, and then we entered into the abyss that is filled with false accusations mingled with real ones.”
“The reactionary response hit our college campuses first, where young women started calling for the ability to call ‘Monday morning regrets’ rape.”
“Times have changed, and what I grew up knowing as “not rape” has been placed under an umbrella for ‘all things sexual that men might do with or to women and make them feel uncomfortable.’l
“That umbrella is becoming the new definition of “rape,” and the current accusers of Kavanaugh are taking advantage of that categorization.”
“People have politicized sexual interactions to the point where one needs to check daily to find out what new things have been placed under that growing umbrella.”
“What’s worse is no one is thinking about the consequences of criminalizing the concept of making people uncomfortable, or that due process is becoming meaningless in the face of accusations that have anything to do with sex.”
“It’s creating an interesting political battle, but unfortunately the casualties of it are vast and most of them are not even old enough to vote.”
“Worst of all, there is absolutely nothing empowering for women in any of this. I thought that I would get over the fact that I was silenced in the eighties when I was raped if I lived to see a day when women wouldn’t be treated as I was.”
“It has gone so far in the opposite direction – just the word “rape” has become a weapon, which has rendered it meaningless. It means nothing – less than nothing.”
“It means the destruction of lives, not only of the men who are accused, but also of the women who use the word for accusations of actions other than forced sex. We are human, and we (hopefully) learn from mistakes and bad things that happen to us along the way.”
“But, there are no lessons in this new political game except one – practice isolation. If you never get close to anyone ever, you should be safe from being accused of getting too close. Sadly, I have come extremely close to teaching my teenage son exactly that.”
“Maybe one day I’ll also teach him about how making “all the uncomfortable things rape” just ripped open scars I thought I’d buried years ago. But, I will not call myself a “victim,” because I don’t want to be under their umbrella.”
