The battle over Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the U.S.
Supreme Court forms a chapter in a new epoch in American history.
Like other countries, the U.S. has dealt slowly with the
rights and roles of women. Now, the
country is undergoing major change, and allegations about Kavanaugh are part of
it.
His nomination and the careers of other men in the public
spotlight have been affected by allegations of sexual crimes. Long hidden or ignored, some men have
exercised their power – political, theatrical or physical – over women more
often than many had suspected.
Decades ago, Margaret Chase Smith, the Mainer who was the
first woman to be elected to both the U.S. House and Senate, urged caution in
too readily accepting allegations. In
her famous Declaration of Conscience speech, she said that the Constitution
speaks of “trial by jury instead of trial by accusation.”
The danger in relying too heavily on allegations alone is
that they might become a standard tool of political opposition.
Still, much evidence, including some only circumstantial,
has made it impossible to deny certain gross misdeeds. Cases emerge after decades of the system
intentionally ignoring them.
Some men have admitted assaults. Some charges have escaped prosecution, only because
the actions in question may have occurred too long ago or victims have
suppressed the trauma.
The Washington Post recently revealed a long-hidden case of
a Texas high school girl who was raped.
Despite firm evidence, her attacker was not prosecuted, and she was
hounded out of town. No wonder she said nothing
for years.
However charges of past abuse are resolved, they have led to
one clear result. The #MeToo movement has caused an increased awareness among
women that abuse can no longer be ignored and among men that abusive behavior
may be judged well into the future.
Even more important, revelations of sexual abuse have led to
a greater recognition of historic discrimination against women.
To a surprising extent, charges of sexual abuse against then-candidate
Donald Trump, comedian Bill Cosby and Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein have
promoted the political future of American women, by graphically calling public
attention not only to past abuse, but also to their unequal treatment.
The #MeToo movement is only one element of change and needs
to be transformed into a “We,Too” way of life.
More women are running for Congress than ever. Some may gain votes simply because they are
women. But support will come also
because voters are coming to understand that women are as capable as men to
direct the affairs of state. They should be elected based on ability, not sex.
It remains to be seen how many of these candidates will
succeed. What’s most important is that
they are on the ballot. Women will undoubtedly
play the leading role in the future political process, and the races this year
are a step in that direction. Two women
are running for Maine governor this year.
Maine has sent three women to the U.S. Senate. One now serves, and one of the state’s two
House members is a woman. Perhaps they benefited
from women’s votes. But the case can be
made that they were elected by both women and men on their merit.
President Trump has appointed women to important posts,
though not to head any of the top four departments, as both of his predecessors
did. But his boasting about groping
women still rankles. Could a woman have
been elected after bragging about having groped men with impunity?
Women are beyond doubt ready to lead. In universities, law schools and other
professional schools, they are becoming the educated majority. They clearly know how to manage their
personal and professional lives.
But “We, Too” must act on such change. At the Supreme Court, since the appointment
of the first woman in 1981, there have been 16 nominees, but only four have
been women. The chief justices in Maine
and the United Kingdom are women and Canada recently also had a woman leading
its top court.
The need to recognize women as leaders extends beyond
government. In the private sector, a
woman still does not receive equal pay for doing the same job as a man. Women lead only about five percent of the
five hundred top companies on the Fortune list.
The problem of discrimination against women goes back to the
beginning of the human race. What is
happening now in the U.S. is thus even more historic, more difficult and more
important than most Americans, female or male, may imagine.
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