In the wake of Brett Kavanaugh’s hearings and eventual judicial confirmation to the United States Supreme Court, America has been left with many mingling emotions. However, the dominant and most concerning feeling, according to President Trump, is fear. Which is undoubtedly a strange and terrible new sensation for cisgender heterosexual white men.
It’s evident that our country’s biggest issue isn’t men being chauvinists and rapists. No, the problem is women degrading the character of men by speaking out and accusing them of being sexual assailants. One can only imagine this makes men feel helpless and afraid, so eerily similar to how women feel after they are raped and assaulted by men.
Ultimately, the leader of our country is right. It’s the majority who should be cowering in fear of false allegations that might destroy their million dollar, Yale-clad names laden with power. Between the #MeToo movement and Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti, no realm is safe for the men who have long controlled, well, everything.
One group that shouldn’t be afraid in today’s society? Women. Not counting those who haven’t come forward, only about one out of six women have been raped. (A mere 26 million women in the U.S.) Yes, the majority of these millions of sexual assault victims are under 30, but as they say, boys will be boys. According to Kavanaugh supporters, assault is just one of the follies of high school and college youth.
There is nothing that scary about the prospect of being pinned down to a bed, groped, suffocated, slipped a roofie, or beaten. They’re just inevitable things; a part of everyday life for women. We can’t hold men accountable for the silly, frivolous things they did 35 years ago.
As a woman, I cannot attest to being scared to walk alone at night, or to tell a man “no.” I don’t secretly cringe every time a man touches me or constantly worry about the men in my life who might secretly be abusers. In fact, I, along with all of womankind, live in a constant state of security and comfort.
It certainly isn’t a scary time for black people either. People who are, on average, seven times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of murder than white people, 12 times more likely to be imprisoned unjustly for drug usage and 3.5 times more likely to be falsely condemned for sexual assault. As we all know, black people are disproportionately killed off by the police, and were the racial group most victimized by hate crimes in 2016. But really, what do they have to fear?
Men are starting to dread the days of fun, non-consensual breast grabs during drinking games that now might be used against them in a court of law.
Transgender people clearly have no reason to fear, as reports show that a minimal 47 percent of trans people have been raped or sexually abused in their lifetime.
Which may seem like a lot, but remember that up to 90 percent of rapists are male. These statistics are horrifying to men and very detrimental their whole ‘good guy’ image. Because where there are rapists, there’s bound to be oversensitive, crazy women crying “rape.”
Of course, the people who have the least to worry about are the sexual assault victims themselves. (Or, rather, the sexual assault accusers.) They should be comforted by the fact that .6 percent of rapists see prison time for their actions. Studies that prove young women are more likely to commit suicide after being raped are particularly reassuring.
Victims even have their own accusations to look forward to as well once they speak out. After confessing the darkest, most traumatizing moment of their life, women will inevitably be confronted with fun questions such as “what were you wearing,” “did you have anything to drink” or “why didn’t you just leave?” and “why did you wait so long to come to authorities?” Coming forward might also mean that these women with PTSD and anxiety get the chance to be ridiculed by the President of the United States on live television.
Now, for those of you that haven’t caught on to the heavy sarcasm, it’s not at all a very scary time for cis-het white men. Pay attention to the facts. This public display of “fear” is only a tactic employed by the men running the country (namely, Trump) to belittle all accusations and cast doubt on those that would dare stand up to them.
Society is still just as frightening as always. At least, for same people as always: women and other minority groups.
Men aren’t truly terrified. But maybe for once, they should be. Men should fear women finally coming forward out of the cracks to expose their repulsive lack of self-control. Men should look ahead in trepidation at the possibility of receiving the justice that they deserve.
I say, since men love to play the victim so much, let’s let them have their fun in the sun. If men want to be scared, so be it. There’s nothing scarier to any man than a woman stepping forward into the spotlight of the public and saying, with confidence and truth, “Me too.”
Photo: Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images
