1/ (TW: sexual assault):

One reason many survivors do not report is b/c society has taught us to measure sexual assault w/ a ruler.

I'm going to talk about a couple of factors that have been empirically demonstrated to correlate w/ non-reporting. nyti.ms/2Cy0vgA 2/ After I was raped, I remember thinking that, despite all the evidence that I had been raped, it might not really be rape b/c I was not simultaneously threatened w/ murder.

I also thought it could not really be rape b/c, tho I was strangled, I was not beaten.

1/ Writing a thread in response to this Q b/c I have SO many thoughts. I’m going to offer my own responses to the question in the hope that people will be inspired to vote even if they are dissatisfied w/ their immediate choices. Please be respectful to the original tweeter.

https://twitter.com/w2absurdia/status/1048751371028058112

2/ I’m going to talk a lot about being a progressive/left-leaner. This means something diff to diff people. When I use this language, I mean that I am socially far-left. I want aggressive action on racial inequality/injustice, LGBTQ rights, women's rights, etc.

1/ I want people who have not been victimized to watch this video and to sit w/ some truths. Specifically, I want you to really absorb what it means that victims blame themselves.

https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1047281394098028544

2/ Every person is different. Every survivor is different. But there are also patterns that emerge post-sexual assault. . . . .

There's something happening right now that I am not sure I fully know how to talk about, but I want to honor in any case:

Black women are showing a level of unqualified solidarity w/ Dr. Ford that stands in stark contrast to the varied responses of white women. And this is occurring despite the fact that white women--including white liberal women--so often utterly fail at supporting, amplifying, & defending black women.

There's been a lot of empirical research on the fact that even when women *have* been assaulted, they hesitate 2 label the action as "sexual assault" or "rape," for a variety of reasons, incl. blaming themselves for what happened, their assault not fitting a "stereotype," etc.

https://twitter.com/JessicaValenti/status/1045006612656791557

This is one reason that public health orgs & researchers started measuring sexual assault by asking behaviorally specific Q's, such as, "Has a man held penetrated you w/out your consent. . ." rather than labelling Q's such as "Have you been raped?"

1/ People who are framing this moment in history as a “test” of #Metoo are missing a number of fundamental points about the nature of the movement itself, its broader societal impact, &, indeed, how the modern GOP reacts to sexual assault. 2/ #MeToo isn’t being tested. It is showing its strength.

So many of us are not only unified in our outrage, we are talking about sexual assault more openly, & w/ more nuance, than ever before.

We are empowering one another.

Here's what I would like folks to understand, including other journos: Ronan Farrow is a talented investigative reporter. His work is rendered particularly profound b/c he clearly understands the complexity of sexual assault. I have no doubt that is why so many victims trust him. I say this as both a survivor & someone who has done a lot of research into sexual assault.

I'm deleting *all* my Rosenstein tweets w/ links to articles b/c ALL the headlines are inaccurate. Strikingly, there are inaccurate headlines from *multiple* news sources.

Some news orgs *really* screwed up this morning & I hope it doesn't have consequences. How could so many people report so confidently on a story when they had such scattered info?

I think they're chomping at the bit for the Saturday Massacre & need to slow their roll.

1/ This Op-Ed by Bret Stephens is intellectually flaccid, at best, and morally reprehensible, at worst.

It’s written as a superficial appeal to our “reason,” while, in fact, Stephens repeatedly argues that we behave in a fundamentally irrational manner. nyti.ms/2zngCL0 2/ First, let’s just talk about how flawed Stephens’ “argument” is. . . . .

1/ This man was once my president. I wanted to share some of the things that he said about sexual assault during that time. . . .

"It’s about all of us -- our moms, our wives, our sisters, our daughters, our sons. Sexual assault is an affront to our basic decency and humanity.” 2/ “. . .[Sexual assault] is not an abstract problem that goes on in other families or other communities.

Even now, it’s not always talked about enough.

It can still go on in the shadows.

But it affects every one of us. . . .” obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-offi…

1/ I want everyone to think about something for a moment, esp. those of you who have never experienced assault

Dr. Blasey-Ford has been a teacher & a researcher. Now, whenever she looks @ a new group of students, she'll have 2 think, "Are they imagining what Kavanaugh did 2 me?" 2/ When she publishes a new article, she doesn't get to be defined by her research & her research alone anymore.

She will be defined, at least in part, by what a *man* did to *her.*

I am just boiling w/ rage. At the GOP for nominating a sexual predator. At Kavanaugh. At every single person who tried to make this story about Diane Feinstein. At every person who suggested Ms. Ford be compelled to revel her identity. wapo.st/2QAADV4?tid=ss… Let the words sink in:

“These are all the ills that I was trying to avoid,” [Ford] said, explaining her decision to come forward. “Now I feel like my civic responsibility is outweighing my anguish and terror about retaliation.”

1/ I think some political journalists are fundamentally misreading leftward shifts in the Democratic party; namely, I think many are over-attributing any leftward shift to Bernie Sanders. 2/ There are at least two interacting factors here that many seem to be missing out on. The first is that the Democratic party has been shifting leftward for a decade now (if not longer). The second is the increased enfranchisement of folks who have been historically marginalized

1/ What’s David Remnick gonna debate Steve Bannon about? The pros & cons of white nationalism? What it was like to beat his wife? How to best advance racist propaganda? Whether or not Donald Trump has ushered in the Fourth Turning of American history? 2/ Some very intelligent people seem to be confused here.

YES, it is good to debate people who have different ideas than you.

But you gotta ask yourself: what exchange of ideas are you aiming for? And what will be the product of the debate?

1/ I love Debra Messing & I don’t want to rail against her, specifically, here, but I do want to point out that many white liberals hold this false belief—and—if you haven’t already disabused yourself of it, now would be a good time to start.

https://twitter.com/DebraMessing/status/1035822440050380800

2/ Until very recently, if you were a white liberal, you may have been operating under the belief that racism was solely located in the hearts of individuals, rather than in systems.

1/ Ok, so deep breath. On my way home, I turned on @NPR & heard an interview on @Studio360show w/ John McNaughton, a pro-Trump artist, &, once again, I would like to ask media organizations to at least *explore* the idea that the president is a white nationalist. 2/ Interview here: npr.org/podcasts/38144…

1/ After the LouisCK scandal broke, a male acquaintance of mine said the women were to blame for going to a hotel room w/ Louis. That they should have known what would come.

I, a rape victim, started panicking, trying to convince him otherwise. I failed. He was resolute.

https://twitter.com/michaelianblack/status/1034415828022779904

2/ It's hard to describe how such a moment feels. I didn't want to say, "Hey, I've been raped, listen to me." I didn't want to talk about my rape at all. But I desperately wanted this person to know: don't blame the victims. I felt, if he didn't stop, I would claw my own eyes out

1/ So, I want universal, affordable health care. UHC doesn't necessarily entail either single payer or M4A. There are a lot of pathways there. But, really, here, I want to highlight two things that have come to the forefront of my mind recently: 2/ First thing: Ppl should consider why some reproductive rights activists have issues w/ a *purely* government-run system. Many women's rights activists advocate for a hybrid system (or greater hybridization than we have now).

I'm a proud Democrat. I was raised as a Democrat by Democratic parents. I took a brief, embarrassing foray into dabbling w/ the Green Party when I was 16, but, other than that, I've basically always been a Dem. It's part of my identity.

But it doesn't have to be part of yours. I see a lot of talk about what the Democratic party needs to be. They need to be more left. Or they need to be more center. Etc. Some of this talk is framed as "forcing," i.e. "force the party left." I've participated in this myself, in the past. I won't anymore.

I agree that we never should, but I fear that we will. We are a country awash in denialism-of our past & of our present. For example, between 793- 8,498 people died in Puerto Rico after Maria. I am appalled this is not at the forefront of our national consciousness. Barely a blip

https://twitter.com/JessicaValenti/status/1033142532883013632

How many children's brains and bodies were impacted by lead in Flynt? And, again, we seem to have forgotten.

What's going on w/ this Julia Salazar business? I read this Tablet article last night & commented that it was poorly written. I stand by that. It does seem well-researched in places. But, I'm not that familiar w/ Tablet and whether or not it is generally reputable or whether it has a *politically* ideological slant.