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Hey happy birthday, thanks for taking the time to talk sensitively about such a heavy topic. As a survivor, and political professional (with background in campaign and advocacy), I think the #MeToo movement is, unfortunately, going to be more and more irrelevant except as a badge to wear to show that you're a Good Person^tm tm despite the poo poo policy positions. One big side of that is profiteering: the giant sexy Medusa statue sculpted by a man so he could tell t-shirts with the photo of the statue of that to #girlbosses, razor blade brands using #MeToo in ads to sell more razors, the list goes on. And for all of those who make money off the language of survivors, there are those who weaponize themselves as survivors in order to say poo poo that amounts to "you don't deserve healthcare because I project my abusive father onto Bernie Sanders." And it's frustrating because #MeToo allowed many people who hadn't come forward before to come forward, men and women. Similar to BLM, it was a radical opportunity for change that is used cynically to sell gidgets and let lady CEOs exploit the working women under them. I have no hope for #MeToo anymore. Like every other feminist movement, it is abused to let powerful women off the hook for harming other women (think right-wing dipshits tweeting things like "aren't feminists happy a women like Amy Coney Barrett can be on the Supreme Court hurr hurr" when she would irreparably harm other women by denying them healthcare and abortion access (which is also healthcare but I digress)). We're not going to win unless we can start speaking in material terms, instead of victimhood. We failed when Kavanaugh was put on the court, we failed when Joe Biden won the primary, and we're going to keep failing until people on Reddit stop posting four different "Men who have been falsely accused of sexual assault why should all women get the death penalty" threads every week. I might be way too pessimistic, but watching my survivor mother dismiss accusations against Joe Biden just because she wanted him to win the primary while harping about the accusations against Trump was like a kick in the teeth. What the absolute hell
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Nov 10, 2020 16:13
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 05:17 |
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copy posted:I apologize in advance for my ignorance, but what do you mean by material terms? Do you mean like setting up support and resources to somehow make coming forward easier, or do you mean changing the culture at large? I assume not the second one because that seems way too easily coopted by people who have vested interests in not actually changing things. No, thanks for asking! I wasn't very clear, and I think I let myself get caught in some useless jargon. How can we empower survivors? Some survivors don't come forward, because they are in precious economic positions, at risk of losing their housing or livelihoods. I think the Black Survivors Healing Fund is a great example of how small communities (in this case, survivors who don't get help from their HBCUs) can provide material support for those who best need it. So it's very much like Nix Panicus said: Nix Panicus posted:I would guess it means provide material support, i.e. money, healthcare, housing, etc, such that women aren't reliant on staying in the good graces of their employer to survive. Its impossible to come out against your abuser when your abuser controls whether you get to have a life or not. Material change might also include putting enforceable laws on the books that protect the victim from excessive intrusion, like interviewing 100 of her friends, family, casual acquaintances, third grade teachers and past employers to determine if they were a real rape victim or a Russian psi-op. And then there is the conversational element: We cannot let victimhood become an identity. It cannot be a cudgel used to cynically win an argument. It is not an identity you throw around to gotcha someone. You either believe survivors or you don't, you don't get to pick and choose. You don't get to run interference for Joe Biden in the primaries after saying that Trump R*peman Bad. At the same time, part of believing survivors means that we take these accusations seriously and give them the serious investigations they deserve. We don't get to summarily fire Al Franken. We investigate, we deliberate, we are fair to both parties. People aren't going to want to #BelieveWomen if they can tell its a ploy to get a guy fired. (Not saying this is true in the case of Franken, simply that we need standards!) I think I'm a little rambley here, so I appreciate the patience of anyone reading this.
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Nov 11, 2020 16:55
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