Accountability in the #MeToo Era

What do you do when you have a Supreme Court nominee who has multiple sexual assault allegations against him? You definitely don't rush his confirmation, that's what.

I've been thinking a lot about the situation surrounding Brett Kavanaugh and the many sexual assault allegations against him. I have a lot of feelings that resemble frustration and border on rage. Between the actual allegations, the yearbook page, the "Renate Alumni," and so much more, I think what makes me the angriest is how the GOP is handling it. Merriam-Webster defines "accountability" as "the quality or state of being accountable" and on the entry page sit the words "public officials lack accountability" as the example. This is a stunning and sobering truth of our society.

For centuries, women have been treated as second-class citizens. Men should make all of the important decisions and are the only ones who know better. Society accepts a woman's word as being emotional, not logical, and therefore isn't meant to be believed. Women have constantly been dismissed. When the #MeToo movement finally began to receive traction it deserved, thousands of women came forward with their own stories—stories they'd buried for years.

I never thought of my own assault as being an assault. It was a friend who thought he was being funny, and while I got my revenge when I slapped him clear across the face after grabbing me, I never considered just how wrong it really was. Not until recently.

Since when has time dictated whether or not something is true? Only this year, in 2018, has Monticello finally admitted that Thomas Jefferson fathered the children of Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman he owned. A man who has been dead since 1826. And aren't we still trying to celebrate men who fought for the Confederacy more than 150 years ago? So when the GOP immediately dismissed the allegations against Brett Kavanaugh because of time, I was stunned.

Sexual assault isn't a political and partisan issue. But when it concerns a potential lifetime member of the Supreme Court, apparently it becomes one and doesn't warrant an investigation. In fact, it means a sham of a hearing and a rush for confirmation the next day. A vote is already scheduled before the hearing has even been held. This is what is most enraging for me. The blatant disregard for what is happening. the outright dismissal of the multiple women who have come forward against the same man. The man who will have a say in what these women can do with their bodies.

All over again. America failed Anita Hill more than 20 years ago. America will fail Christine Blasey Ford. What do both cases have in common? Old white men thought they knew better. America will continue to fail women over and over and over. Times up.