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Women aren’t a little bit annoyed. We’re not just angry. We are raging at the injustice we see played out on the world stage. The fact that Republicans would call for a vote on Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh only one day after Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified about her 1982 assault is not just reckless; it shows that the Republican party leadership doesn’t give a damn about women if it doesn’t fit into their political narrative.
As a former Republican, a woman, a voter, a mother, and a reasonable human being, my first reaction was something along the line of fuck these fucking motherfuckers. But then my second thought was that every single thinking woman with integrity needs to stop fucking these fucking motherfuckers. Seriously, quit having sex with them. If every man who questioned Dr. Ford’s—and other survivors’—account of assault stopped getting laid, maybe we would see a little more urgency surrounding justice.
#CoffeeandRevolution
Glennon Doyle recently called for #CoffeeandRevolution on Twitter, and I am so here for it that I immediately began brainstorming ideas. If communicating our own personal survivor stories isn’t enough, and calls to our representatives don’t mean a damn, what can we do that is extreme and powerful that will matter? Clearly, marches aren’t good enough. Protests are falling on deaf ears. What’s the solution to force the largely male GOP to give a damn about women and our experiences?
Don’t give me any of that innocent until proven guilty shit because I’m here to say that I think a Supreme Court Justice should be above reproach. I don’t think that it’s too much to ask that they have lived a life where accusations of sexual misconduct never come up. Where they didn’t participate in groups commonly known as Tits & Clits. Where they didn’t utilize rape culture language in yearbooks and speeches and claim that what happens at Georgetown Prep stays at Georgetown Prep. I think that should be a bare minimum for a Supreme Court Justice nominee.
But what did we expect from a president who publicly worships evil dictators and has his own history of treating women like accessories rather than individuals, with his own line of accusers waiting in the wings for a chance to tell their stories?
It’s not just about Kavanaugh.
If women seem unusually angry, here’s why: First, let’s look at the fact that Republicans throw out all integrity by electing the current “grab ’em by the pussy” president. On top of that, in the last couple of years, women have come forward in record numbers to talk about their #MeToo stories. We’ve endured this type of abuse and harassment since the dawn of time, and we have every right to be angry when a country that is supposed to act as a world leader elects a president that throws us back to the stone ages—and who then wants to appoint a fellow sexual predator to the highest court in the land.
That’s not even considering the countless number of women of color whose experiences were reported time and again to little public outrage. It took a white male nominee and a white woman survivor to bring us to a breaking point when we should have been at a breaking point for Anita Hill or any one of the other survivors who have come forward through the years.
It’s not even about politics; it’s about some men (some white men in particular) and their entitlement. It’s about women being done with a system that dismisses our lifelong trauma because they are worried about some man’s future career prospects. Boo-fucking-hoo if Brett Kavanaugh loses his opportunity for the job he’s always wanted if it means that he got to live his life trauma-free while Dr. Ford has had years of struggle and shame for his violation of her body.
We need a revolution.
If revolution of some kind is the answer, then I am 100% here for it because women matter. Because I matter. Because my children deserve to grow up in a country that values the citizens that labor to bring them into this world and also do most of the physical and emotional labor of raising up families. We are not second-class citizens, and the very idea that a man accused by more than one person of sexual assault could be put on the Supreme Court for political reasons is appalling. What political reasons matter more than integrity, ethics, and ensuring justice for future survivors? Can a man accused of sexual assault justly sit on the court and be expected to fairly judge other cases that might present related to same?
NO. Hell no. No fucking way.
There is no language strong enough to express our deep and abiding rage that anyone would consider calling for a vote on a nominee that has only just participated in a hearing on sexual assault allegations. The idea that the Senate almost moved forward without an investigation—or without considering that perhaps the allegations alone make him an unsuitable candidate—is absolutely rage-inducing for survivors and intelligent individuals everywhere.
A man with current, public accusations of assault would likely be turned down for an interview to flip burgers, and yet the GOP ignores this because they have an agenda. Some might insert here that Democrats have an agenda, too. Sure, they do. But the only thing that matters right now is that this particular nominee is unfit for the position, and it’s time for both parties to go back to the drawing board until a reasonable option can be found for this lifetime placement.
Regardless of the result of the vote, the very fact of the vote should lead directly to revolution anyway. So go pour your cup of coffee, and let’s start brainstorming what actions we can take to create real change. I’m going to start listing them, and you can, too, in the comments below:
1. Participate in national protests and marches by men and women. In fact, let’s go old school and do sit-ins, walkouts, and whatever the hell else will get public attention.
2. Participate in national work strikes by survivors, women, and male allies (not just a couple of minutes either).
3. Stop having sex with those who support Kavanaugh or question Dr. Ford’s credibility.
4. Contact the representatives’ wives, adult daughters, and mothers to call for them to take public stands.
5. Call for the 16 missing states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in a show of support for their female constituents.
6. Stop supporting businesses that contribute to GOP campaigns, support Kavanaugh, or question survivors.
7. Stop supporting businesses with a checkered past regarding sexual assault allegations of employees and are known to have a negative culture for women.
8. Stop feeding trolls on social media who want to debate the merits of the case.
9. Unfriend and block anyone who questions survivors, puts politics before justice, or uses hate language to describe the opposition.
10. Go out and vote for candidates who represent our values.
11. Rally everyone you know of voting age to turn out and vote.
12. Publicly spread the word on which candidates have supported Kavanaugh or have their own sexual assault allegations or other violence against women.
13. Contact representatives daily by phone, letter, postcard, carrier pigeon, skywriting, billboards, and whatever other means necessary to communicate our disgust for their refusal to stand for female constituents and survivors.
14. Run for public office.
15. Empower women. Be someone who champions women rather than one who complains about them.
16. Speak your truth. Don’t let the Kavanaugh hearings discourage you. We will believe you and stand with you, but your truth is too important to be silenced.
17. Smash the patriarchy. Every single week, we can take the time to do something to actually dismantle patriarchal systems. One essential way is to confront misogyny in our homes, school systems, and offices. Confront it and destroy it.
18. Proudly display your radical agenda. Wear the t-shirts and buttons. Drink out of coffee mugs proclaiming our rage at the injustice. Put bumper stickers on your vehicle. Post it on your social media. If they’re covering their ears and refusing to hear our stories, then they need to see it everywhere they go.
19. Never stop. Whatever it takes, never quit. Brainstorm with each other to come up with ways to dismantle the oppressive systems that prevent justice for survivors.
I’ve never lead a revolution, and I don’t want to lead. My work is to write, and today we’re waiting to see if our representatives care anything about justice at all or if they’re too set on their political agendas to consider the impact it’s having on the rest of us. If we need to have a revolution, then so be it. But this must end. Women should never have to spend a day waiting for the white male establishment to decide if they matter.
Men, we are not against you. Dismantling the patriarchy has nothing to do with trying to take something from you. It has everything to do with advancing equality. We’re not looking to establish a matriarchy. We’re trying to see a fair system of government that represents us all, a justice system that provides actual justice—not only to white survivors but to all survivors (yes, including men). Be an ally. Or better yet, join us. Take up the feminist cause to promote true equality. Not because you have a wife or mother or daughter but because we are, all of us, human beings.
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This post was originally published on medium.com, and is republished here with the author’s permission.
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Photo credit: flickr
