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The Capitol attack, then the denial, then blaming & shaming @AOC for speaking out is the cycle of abuse: simmering tension that leads to a profound violation, followed by denial, minimization, victim-blaming, justification, finger-pointing and diversion. https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/02/opinions/aoc-capitol-riot-filipovic/index.html
So many headlines today said that AOC disclosed being a sexual assault survivor. But they missed the context: She used her own story to make the connection between how many Republicans are treating the assault on the Capitol and how so many people treat assaults on women's bodies
Republicans deny culpability for the Capitol attacks. They blame others. They suggest that maybe Democrats provoked it. They insist that we "move on" in order to heal and come back together. This manipulation is familiar to too many women (and some men, too).
It leaves us -- all Americans -- in a state of imbalance, at once trying to reconcile the gravity of what we experienced with the words of powerful, trusted people telling us that it was no big deal, we're partly to blame, and we should just get on with our lives.
That kind of dissonance doesn't allow for healing. Instead, it trains us for acquiescence, shame, and self-doubt. AOC is identifying this for exactly what it is: A cycle of manipulation and abuse that is literally on domestic violence awareness websites it's so tried-and-true.
