Comments sections are bitter lands. They run by different
laws where no one’s safe and everyone’s a prisoner of their own poor grammar.
An opinion, it seems, needs to be caps-locked in order for it to be valid. Bandying
insults of nationality and lowered intelligence has become like signing off. People
are judged blue or red by how accepting they are of immigrants. In comments
kingdom there is no nuance, only you’re right, I’m wrong, here’s why. And
whoever shouts loudest inevitably wins.
How dare those libtards have kneejerk reactions against
Brett Kavanaugh's alleged assault of Dr Blasey Ford. Who are hell are they to
judge the judge before he’s been properly judged? The repetitive typed cry
of Innocent until proven guilty is
the only true argument conservatives and woman-haters alike have. All of a
sudden they’re siding with the law, as if they never smoked crack or voted to
drain the swamp.
But what we’re essentially arguing about is the background
check of a job interview; he’s not going to jail and public opinion doesn’t
have to wait until the ruling is made before it casts its own decision. The
public cannot be guilty of unfair trial. It has never held back from judging
someone and it shouldn’t start now. Pardon us for having an opinion that isn’t
supported by a verdict from a board of people I don’t know and who have other agendas throwing shade on their
ethics – conservative and otherwise.
Ford vs Kavanaugh - trust our guts
We should trust our instincts. We are not rational
calculating machines, we are animals led by the combined forces of biology,
psychology and culture and we damn well need our imperfect modes of judgement. They’re
what allow us to run from the jaws of lions and to decide who to trust. I’m not
saying lynch the guy, nor am I saying don’t make him Supreme Judge – that’s for
the law to decide, sure. What I’m saying is, if you believe he is guilty then say
it; load and clear. In caps if you must, but prepare to have a conversation
about why you think this. Don’t let other people bully you into withholding
judgement. If he’s one day allowed to make supreme, world-changing judgements,
then you go for it and tell your buddies that, in your opinion, he’s definitely
an entitled prick. It just might make you feel better when he’s busy ripping
your reproductive rights out from under you.
I for one am almost certain that he did it. He was a drunk student
at a party and it doesn’t take a lawyer to point out (even if they should probably
mention it) he was also likely horny AF. We all know people who struggle to
hide their biological instincts after a few beers – and it’s almost always men who
cause the most damage; with stupid violence, sexual violence and sometimes just
not knowing – or caring – about women’s limits.
Kavanaugh Assault #metoo
The #metoo movement, while seeming like another excuse for narcissistic
women to make a social media post, actually allowed us to see for the first
time the full extent of how men overstep the mark all the time. Even if they don’t know it, even if it doesn’t affect
them and even boys, even, if there
were mitigating circumstances.
The sheer number of women who hold stories of men abusing
power or taking advantage (not to mention more serious allegations) is
staggering. I would pull up statistics of sexual assault but sceptics rarely believe
these anyway. Of course, men are also victims of sexual assault but I defy
anyone to say it’s a level playing field (although in this case we aren’t
seeking equality, you’ll be pleased to hear). There are more male abusers for
the same reason there are more male murderers. As a species you have an aggression
problem – women, meanwhile, do not (although you might know a few individuals
who do).
Both parties can rationalise an assault – we drank too much,
I wasn’t wearing enough, she went to my room – but at the end of it all, only
one person is fucked up by it. More than often it is women because men, for some
seemingly biological reason, tend to struggle to control their sexual instincts
more than women. Women throughout history have suffered from this and today
still.
When you begin to appreciate the commonplace nature of
sexual assault and stop seeing all women as lying manipulators (might it be because one denied you sex?),
you realise it’s not that far out for Brett Kavanaugh to have done what he did. It’s almost conventional.
Dr Blasey Ford as a Political Pawn
So why the partisan divide? Why are conservatives defending
the drunk penis-wielding sexual fury of the past and present and why are
liberals now standing up against it?
I’d be an idiot if I said it wasn’t political; of course a
little bit of sexual deviation is exactly what the democratic party needed to
fight the conservative stronghold of the courts. Enrage the public and make
sure the world is watching. Lacking any other ideas, it’s a good plan. Throw Dr
Ford to the lions. What rational-minded, aggressive forum posters are worried
about is that it’s all a ruse! It’s a democratic grab for power, a lie, a
conspiracy against a good man!
If it is a lie,
then it’s a fairly fucking stupid one. An irrational woman with literally
nothing but her word and her residual trauma. Since when has anyone listened to the unsubstantiated
emotional pain of women? The democratic party needs to do better than that, it’s
barely worth lying about. A better lie would’ve been tax fraud, or ties with Russia,
or literally anything that could be proved with a little planted evidence.
The Kavanaugh vs Dr Ford trial came at a good time for democrats and
literally no one else. Ford herself surely won’t be any better off for it – if not
scarred further by the whole regretful ordeal – and the public suffer too. For
as long as we argue amongst ourselves over the cold, hard factual evidence (of which there is none) we do no
justice. We only make a bigger divide.
So let’s drop the pointless argument of whether she’s lying
or telling the truth and have a different conversation. A conversation about
why we need male politicians who don’t assault women, another about how we
measure emotional trauma and another about how wealthy, educated men might better
use their privilege and power.
At the forefront of my mind is the conversation about how males
have dominated this planet for thousands of years, both politically and
socially – and sexually – and now, as women find their voices (bloody women’s
rights for you) the conversation is changing – sometimes not in the way you’d
expect or want. Rational, moral people should allow for views that differ from
the norm, views that cause us to question our own motives, desires and
treatment of others – and possibly as we start to recognise our flawed animal
nature, our shared unequal history and our own bad choices, we might just have
a chance of bettering society. Just so long as we can have the conversation.
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