Yesterday, during the hearing that featured testimony from Dr. Christine Blasey-Ford and Brett Kavanaugh, Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee stayed silent, albeit not for long. Citing concerns like "the use of appropriate language" and proper tone, they outsourced their questions for Dr. Ford about her sexual assault allegations to an Arizona sex crimes prosecutor, Rachel Mitchell. In an attempt to appear accommodating, they allowed Mitchell to do their job of interrogating Dr. Ford and all ceded their 5 minutes of question time to her. Images of the (mostly) male Republican senators sitting timidly behind Mitchell circulated widely on the internet on Thursday, with many on twitter pointing out the irony of the situation. They were perfectly happy to have Mitchell question Dr. Ford, but as soon as Mitchell gave Kavanaugh the same treatment - bringing him to tears - they switched their tactics and questioned Kavanaugh directly. I found it interesting to observe how Mitchell was portrayed in the media yesterday and how she was used by Republicans throughout the day. It just goes to show that women will be included when it is believed that they will advance the agenda of men in power, but otherwise, they're still seen as something in the way.
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