The simple act of featuring both Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh within the same pages shows how unwilling society is to dismantle r/pe culture. This essay contains mentions of r/pe, sexual assault, PTSD, and alcoholism This week TIME released their “100 Most Influential People of 2019” listicle, which included the likes of Jair Bolsonaro,...
Category: #MeToo
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Brett Kavanaugh’s Nomination is a Hellscape For Survivors of Sexual Assault
The men who commit sexual assault are humanized and given the benefit of the doubt over and over again, while the victims of rape are abused, doxed, and accused of lying. Over the past few weeks, I have started and then stopped writing a piece about the current happenings at the forefront of American news...
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#ChurchToo: Spiritual Leaders are Abusing Their Power and Abusing Us
Religion is not infallible, and it continually creates space for its leaders to abuse the power that religious interpretations unquestioningly afford them. [TW/CW: This essay contains discussion of sexual violence, including molestation.] My mom once scolded me for swatting the pastor’s wife’s hand away from my head. She had been intrigued by my intricate braids and...
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Why It’s Important That We Hold Asia Argento Accountable
Argento shows us that people are capable of being abusive and abused, and her accuser, Jimmy Bennett, also deserves justice. TW: This essay contains mention and descriptions of statutory r/pe In a report published on Sunday, the New York Times reveals that actress Asia Argento made payments totalling $380,000 to actor Jimmy Bennett after allegedly...
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Supporting Garbage People Like Johnny Depp Makes You A Misogynist
As long as our culture refuses to hold the Depps of the world accountable, there will always be women like Heard who will be tasked with watching their abusers prosper. [TW/CW: discussion of domestic violence, rape culture and mentions of sexual assault.] New York Magazine’s July 27th, 2015 cover is still as harrowing as it...
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Jeffrey Tambor is Trash: Talent and Genius Doesn’t Justify Abuse
There is no such art, no such glorious work of fiction, no such extraordinary performance, that excuses a real-life abuser. By Candice Frederick It’s been a mere eight months since women in Hollywood first brought Harvey Weinstein’s horrid history of sexual assault to the masses, and just as long since the #MeToo movement catapulted to...
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Navigating Desire In The Wake of #MeToo
We have important steps to take in learning about desire, consent and pleasure-based sexual experiences in the wake of #MeToo. [TW: this piece contains discussions of #MeToo and sexual violence in varying forms.] Started almost ten years ago by Tarana Burke, #MeToo has spread (and in some ways, been co-opted) and become synonymous of the large-scale...
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I Asked My Friends To Document Being Harassed, Here’s What They Told Me
The news is dominated by sexual assault, but what about the harassment that fuels rape culture? By Ally Sabatina With the news cycle being what it is—and that being one with a presidential superpredator at its epicenter—it seems every day brings a new not-so-subtle reminder of the United States’ prioritization of cis men. The very...
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Romance Novels to Read During the Age of #MeToo
#MeToo is challenging mainstream society to critically examine long-held assumptions about sexual scripts and femme pleasure. By Michelle Carroll Lately it feels like it’s nearly impossible to go a single day without hearing a viral story of sexual violence. And of course, this is a good thing. Finally the pain and shame that was previously...
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The #MeToo Backlash and United States’ Disintegration of Rule of Law
What’s becoming clear as crystal is people are realizing just how many men would be behind bars if sexual assault and coercion were treated as the serious crimes they are. One of the most disturbing things that emerged from the debate around “Grace” and Aziz Ansari’s date was how normalized coercive sexual encounters have been,...