Sexual Assault

The Kavanagh and Dr. Blasey Ford hearing has consumed the past week for many reasons, some being the controversy if Kavanagh is innocent or guilty and the history of unfortunate sexual assaults against women in America. As we have seen in watching this past week’s news, it takes enormous courage and luck for a woman to report against a man and then for him to be prosecuted. The recent Women Media Center article discusses this hearing, in addition to ultimate attribution error that feeds the privilege of the hegemony we are witnessing.  When discussing how alleged perpetrators receive empathy from the public, Lauren Davidson refers to the Brock Turner incident to add to her point. In this case, the white male student who was accused of committing a horrific rape was referred to by media outlets as the “Stanford Swimmer”. This type of referral is a case of the ultimate attribution error, where in-group members’ corrupt behavior is described by eternal causes like alcohol abuse; while positive attributions like Turner being a “Stanford swimmer” are highlighted to show “valuable” parts of his character. The same attribution can be seen in the Kavanagh cause, where positive traits are being discussed and the negative behavior of him supposedly assaulted Dr. Blasey Ford is being explained by external attributions such as substance abuse. In both scenarios where white men are being released of the punishments of their behavior through external attributions and broadcasting “positive” attributes of their character, the hegemony that privileges this identity continues to persevere.

The #MeToo movement that originated from Tarrana Burke 10 years ago, but received significant media recognition from Alyssa Milano’s tweet this past year, has in both beneficial and negative ways created a conversation about sexual assault. One constructive effect was the abundant dialogues that were created around rape and resulted in the progress of the de-stigmatization of sexual assault. Additionally, the movement created a platform for survivors to come forward and be supported by others with shared experiences. Kali Jackson in her article elaborately explains all the positive effects of the movement specifically within the college atmosphere. Jackson concludes that on a societal level we are moving in the right direction. While I agree with Jackson and think that this movement had an enormous positive impact within the American college culture, I critique the activism on its lack of embracing intersectionality. This can be blatantly seen by Alyssa Milano being known as the creator when Tarrana Burke is the founder. Burke started the movement to give space for women to be supportive and paying close attention to women of color due to this demographic frequently being ignored. I am afraid that I think there was not enough emphasis on women of color in this activism and acknowledging that they are less valued on a societal level. I do think the movement was instrumental in continuing the progressing of sexual assault awareness, and still there needs to be more consideration of marginalized communities.