Read on Twitter
(TW: sexual violence)
You know, I keep seeing headlines and tweets about AOC sharing in her IG Live that sheâs a survivor of sexual assault, like that was the most shocking reveal of the broadcast. And itâs interesting to me that it seems to have come as a surprise to many
You know, I keep seeing headlines and tweets about AOC sharing in her IG Live that sheâs a survivor of sexual assault, like that was the most shocking reveal of the broadcast. And itâs interesting to me that it seems to have come as a surprise to many
I was not surprised. Because I know many, many women whoâve been sexually assaulted to some degree. Like...maybe most of them? Solidly half the women I know at a minimum anyway
This is also why, while I am often disappointed to hear it, Iâm rarely shocked to find out a man has been accused of sexual violence. Itâs just...itâs really common. Do men know this? Really internalize it?
And yeah, itâs great that sheâs been able to go on with her life and get into politics and have such great success even though something awful happened to her! I donât want to diminish that at all. Iâm very proud of her
But guys, you have to know that there are likely many, many women in Congress who could say the same. This is part of the background radiation of being a woman. Itâs not rare, itâs not the wild exception to the rule.
Also while weâre giving reality checks: almost none of the women I know whoâve been sexually assaulted wound up going to the police (because it would be difficult to prove, because it was a loved one, etc), and those who did were ignored or laughed at anyway
Anyway it has to be frustrating for her that this trauma she shared specifically to give background on why she was so frightened on January 6th, and so attuned to potential threats, has instead almost eclipsed the actual story she was telling
She gave it as a credential: here is why I know what a threatening person looks like and why I did not feel safe with that lone, angry officer. Instead thatâs become the headline.
I also do want to clarify that not all victims of sexual assault are women, and not all perpetrators are men. I talked about the women as victims, men as perpetrators paradigm here because itâs the most common one and because itâs what happened in this particular instance. But...
Continuing to act like sexual violence is rare and shocking also does a disservice to survivors who donât fit this paradigm. The more itâs treated as a shocking anomaly and not a goddamn pervasive part of our culture, the less victims are believed
