It’s hard to sum up 2018, in part because every year of the Trump administration feels like a couple of decades. Here’s one attempt at The Year of the Woman in review.
The part that sticks with me most is the Kavanaugh hearings. I’m struck by the parallels with the confirmation hearing for his fellow creep Clarence Thomas a quarter-century ago. Unlike Anita Hill, Christine Blasey Ford didn’t face an all-male panel, but the power of the patriarchy still shone through. In fact, the moment that summed it up for me was Susan Collins making a desperate grab for the approval of her male Republican colleagues, giving them cover by pretending to believe that Dr. Ford’s little ladybrain couldn’t possibly be smart enough to remember who it was that assaulted her.
And, just like with the Thomas hearings, we saw a flood of women running for office and winning afterward. (The fact that going from 5% women in Congress to 10% counted as a “flood” in 1992 is pretty depressing as well.) I’m hopeful about the long term, but only if we keep fighting like Nasty Women to get there.
As always, this diary is a group effort. Many thanks to elenacarlena, officebss, Besame, noweasels, ramara, and the WOW crew for links and discussion. Here’s the good, bad and ugly from this week.
Violence and Harassment:
Lifetime documentary Surviving R. Kelly makes the case that the art can’t be separated from the artist: his music is what enabled the abuse that’s been reported by multiple minors. The documentary highlights how the music industry has enabled this behavior, back to Jerry Lee Lewis and beyond.
Rodrigo Duterte, President of the Philippines who is often compared with Trump, told a story about molesting his maid.
After getting called out as a serial harasser, Louis CK has apparently decided that since his comeback wasn’t greeted with open arms, he’ll rebrand as a right-wing comic, griping about trans/nonbinary pronouns and mocking the Parkland survivors.
Florida Senate pays $900,000 settlement to aide who was forced to resign after reporting harassment by a state senator.
In 2018, Teen Vogue interviewed 54 women about their experiences at Coachella, and every single one had experienced sexual harassment or assault. (The author of that article mentioned her own experience of being groped twenty-two times in her three days at the festival.) This year, Coachella has announced a zero-tolerance harassment policy, along with “safety ambassadors” to help address the problem, but some of the specifics remain vague.
A woman who’d been in a vegetative state for 14 years gave birth at a a care facility. News articles are STILL referring to this as an “alleged” sexual assault.
One under-reported aspect of the catastrophe in Puerto Rico: a surge in gendered violence and women “disappearing:”
Reproductive Rights:
This year saw a clear pattern of transferring rights away from women and onto fetuses, as women could be charged with any number of crimes toward a fetus inside her own body.
You might be surprised to learn that in the United States a woman coping with the heartbreak of losing her pregnancy might also find herself facing jail time. Say she got in a car accident in New York or gave birth to a stillborn in Indiana: In such cases, women have been charged with manslaughter.
In fact, a fetus need not die for the state to charge a pregnant woman with a crime. Women who fell down the stairs, who ate a poppy seed bagel and failed a drug test or who took legal drugs during pregnancy — drugs prescribed by their doctors — all have been accused of endangering their children.
In Arizona, doctors are now required to question patients seeking abortion as to the reason for their choice, and if anyone coerced them into it. Naturally, no one’s asking these questions of women who carry their pregnancies to term.
Workplace Issues:
Women are changing the face of the military. But the Supreme court is letting the transgender ban stand.
Politics:
Women of color are dominating a crowded field for Chicago’s upcoming mayoral election.
Elizabeth Warren just declared her candidacy for President in 2020, and followed up by talking about policy. Naturally, Politico immediately ran a piece about whether she’ll turn out to be “unlikable,” like the person who got the most votes in 2016:
Action Items:
Amnesty International’s Write for Rights focuses on 10 women defenders of human rights.