Thread by @ZerlinaMaxwell

Thread: It’s important to understand sexual abuse and harassment as a spectrum of behavior.

everyday Harassment (ie catcalling) on one end and Harvey/Cosby on the other end.

Toxic masculinity and the idea that men are *entitled* to women’s time, attention & bodies is at the core.

Men being raised in a “boys will be boys” culture perpetuates the problem resulting in the historic failure to hold men accountable.

And other aspects include victim blaming, the idea that false allegations are common (they aren’t) and the failure to teach consent.

Feminists have been pointing this out for longer than I have been alive but we are only now beginning to understand and believe women.

We are living through a cultural shift and it’s happening in real time. I believe Trump is a catalyst for the shift.

This shift is accelerated because of the election of Trump because he sad what all men are taught “you can do anything to a woman”

And because of rape culture historically he was “right.” Abusers know we victim blame, they know we disbelieve women, etc

Example: Abusers TARGET drunk women or the most vulnerable bc they know they will be easily discredited, blamed, & not believed.

And studies have show that abusers are typically serial offenders so when we don’t believe the 1st woman they do it again and again.

So where do we go from here?
1. Believe women
2. Hold men accountable in a way that is appropriate given severity of offense.
3. Consent!

Since this is a thread and not my full keynote I’ve been giving on college campuses for 5 years, I’ll stop here but these are conversations

Everyone - especially parents - must have with their kids at an early age so boys don’t grow up to become abusers.

The sexual objectification of women in all aspects of our lives needs to stop too.

We are people. Behave accordingly.

/fin

For more: Here is an ignite talk I gave back in 2014 on the topic of ending rape culture

Here is a link to @KateHarding on the topic of rape culture which I highly recommend for a deeper understanding: amazon.com/Asking-Alarmin…

I also highly recommend this documentary by @AfroLez notherapedocumentary.org/home