Rebecca Solnit’s Men Explain Things to Me is a captivating collection of essays in which she describes the ways the power dynamics between men and women impact the world around us. What set this book apart from other collections of essays I have read is the historical knowledge Solnit brings to the analysis of gender relations. It was fascinating to see her frame the power dynamics of international institutions from a gendered perspective.
Time and time again I found myself coming back to the essay Cassandra Among the Creeps. The essay opens describing Cassandra, who upon refusing to pleasure the God Apollo, was cursed to be the woman who told the truth but was not believed. While The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a fable we are routinely brought up with, we are seldom told Cassandra’s story, despite how firmly it rings true. Credibility (or lack thereof) is fundamental within the raging gender wars we are faced with today.
“It’s particularly when women speak up about sexual crimes that their right and capacity to speak come under attack”
In 1991, Professor Anita Hill spoke out against (then) Judge Thomas and was viciously attacked for it. At one point, Hill was accused of “imagining or fanaticizing the things she charged [Thomas] with” by Senator Arlen Spector. Spector’s choice of words was no coincidence. In the early days of Sigmund Freud’s career, he discovered that the mental health of his female patients drastically improved after retelling of past sexual abuse. As more and more women recounted their past sexual trauma, Freud became increasingly troubled by the social implications that would come with the exposure of rampant sexual abuse by men. To avoid the inevitable consequences of validating the rampant abuse of women, he began to insist that women “imagined or longed for the sexual abuse of which they claimed.” And with that, a new way to discredit women was solidified.
“I believe Anita Hill” became a feminist slogan in an attempt to show solidarity as Hill bravely testified. In the wake of the Supreme Court Justice Nomination of Judge Brett Kanavaugh, Solnit’s reflection on horrors that Anita Hill suffered hit especially close to home. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez, and Julie Swetnick have all had their credibility called into question. Dr. Blasey Ford has been accused with confusing Judge Kavanaugh with a look-alike, and each of them has been accused of having political motivations regarding the surfacing of these allegations. It cannot be debated that language used against these victims are used as a mechanism to silence women everywhere.
“Men, Women, and Children lie, but the latter two are not disproportionately prone to doing so”
Today, as Dr. Blasey Ford testified in front of the United States Senate, women across the country stood in solidarity with her, screaming “We Believe Survivors!” People took to the streets and social media, sharing stories of past traumas, in hopes to let Dr. Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez, and Julie Swetnick that they are not alone in this fight. We stand with them because we cannot go back in time and help Anita Hill but we can prevent the suffering of future survivors.
Men Explain Things to Me reminded me how far we have come. However, we miles to go. Continue to fight for the voices of women. Continue to believe survivors. I know I will.
“With the real-life Cassandra’s among us, we can lift the curse by making up our own minds about who to believe and why”
xoxo
Rose Hill
The Orgasm Girls 