In girl world, the past few weeks have been fucking exhausting, all thanks to the systemic opression of women that has gone on for centuries known as “the patriarchy” Harvey Weinstein. WeinstenGate has been absolutely wild for a lot of reasons, but perhaps one of the most outrageous is that men around the world are just now realizing that women are assaulted and harrassed on pretty much a daily basis. Welcome to 2017 and also every single year in the history of mankind.
I’m not entirely sure why men were under the impression that a sexual assault incident has to resemble a cold open to Law & Order: SVU to be taken seriously, but thanks to a bunch of brave women and a hashtag, now men with daughters around the world can finally understand that assault happens everywhere. It can be casual. It can happen in a second that leaves you questioning yourself for long after. And, in a not-at-all shocking turn of events, it can happen to powerful women – even politicians.
In light of this startling news, Meet the Press decided to reach out to every female senator, a rousing 21 out of 100, and asked them to share their own #MeToo stories. Of that 21 only 4 responded, all of them being Democrats. Let’s just throw this on the record now: The rest def didn’t abstain from responding for lack of material to share. It’s really fucking rough being a female politician and I imagine being one who speaks openly about assault is even harder.
Despite the fact that #MeToo has only flooded your feeds in the past week or so, the movement was low-key started years ago by a black activist named Tarana Burke. It’s provided women, who may have otherwise felt isolated by their own assault, a community of support. It’s shown people, both men and women, but mostly men, that sexual violence isn’t just minor Hollywood issue; it’s a raging epidemic in every field, every profession, every environment in which a man can look at a woman and think “yeah I’m probably entitled to that.” It’s fucked up that we needed in hashtag to make this point, but that’s just 2017 I guess.
