Yes, you read that title correctly, I’ll go into more detail about it later on in the article. Recently in social media and the news we’ve been bombarded by the Ford-Kavanaugh Hearing. I’m not going to pick a side, it’s not my place to decide who is at fault. As a Social Worker, I along with every other person that has gone through the process is taught to always take what the individual says as being true until proven otherwise.
For those of you who don’t know about the hearings, I want to know how. Have you been living under a rock for the past 2 months? Back to the case, the Ford-Kavanaugh Hearing came about after Christine Blasey Ford, a doctor of Psychology at Palo Alto University accused Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault while the two were in high school almost 4 decades ago. To say that the entire process has been a mess is an understatement.
To quote a news article about the Hearing:
According to Ford’s Testimonial, she had never told anyone of her sexual assault in detail. That changed in 2012, when she and her husband were redoing their home and she insisted on having a second front door — a second way out of the house. Her husband couldn’t understand; the request seemed ridiculous. Why does a house need two ways out?…During a session with their couples therapist, Ford explained, it all spilled out. She had been assaulted as a teenager. She was pushed into a room and nearly raped. Her attacker, whom she recalled then and now as Kavanaugh.
For anyone, what Dr. Ford went through would be a life altering event. Many have questioned why she just recently went public with her assault. Many have said that if they went through what she did they would have told someone. Some might have, but the facts are that most rape and sexual assaults go unreported. I’d also like to iterate that don’t say that you will do something a certain way. We don’t know how we will react in situations like those experienced by Ford and countless others.
Now on to the purpose of this article, “Himpathy” or sympathy for him; the term was coined by Kate Manne, author of Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny. Himpathy is the inappropriate and disproportionate sympathy powerful men often enjoy in cases of sexual assault, intimate partner violence, homicide and other misogynistic behavior. I hope that in a few moments when you read the following quote you get a feeling for what “Himpathy” is and what it sounds like. While you read the quote, picture in your mind the panel of senators at the hearing, a majority of them older white men, divided by political party tasked with determining the validity of Dr. Ford’s claims.
And after hearing her testimony, and judging it credible, they simply ignored it…They cut off the prosecutor they hired in order to give speech after speech lamenting the way he and his family have suffered. They said they didn’t question that Ford’s assault was real, but perhaps her memory was flawed; whoever had assaulted her, could she really be trusted to say it was Kavanaugh? But Kavanaugh’s memory was beyond reproach. After calling in professional help to cross-examine Ford, they repeatedly apologized for troubling Kavanaugh.
The panel of senators purportedly believe that what happened to Dr. Ford did occur, however they question as to whether it was indeed Kavanaugh and suggest that instead her memory of the event is flawed or that some type of political motive by the Democrats is at play. Both Kavanaugh and the Republicans in the senate panel took the opportunity to lambast the entire event as a scheme by the Democrats to delay the confirmation and steal power from the Republicans.
I would however like to make a statement, barring malingering for political gain. Both Kavanaugh and the Senate Republicans claim that her memory of the event is flawed. While our memory is noted for being quite fallible under normal circumstances in the event of a traumatic event our mind holds on to even the most minute of details. In some cases victims can even recall the type of cologne their attacker was wearing, years and decades after the event.
To quote Kate Manne in an interview given by Vox, “The fact that the male perspective is primary in our culture causes a lot of hostility toward women who come forward and testify against them in these cases, offering a challenge to their otherwise good names or hitherto good reputations.” As human beings, a challenge to our names and our reputations is paramount to murder. Those in power would rather silence victims who pour out their hearts and souls than commit their own character suicide.”
In the time since beginning this article the FBI has began and completed its investigation into Dr. Ford’s claims. An investigation that many are calling a sham, while others are calling the accusations a hoax. Brett Kavanaugh has been confirmed and is now a Supreme Court Justice giving one political party judicial majority over the other and shaping the future of the American Justice System along with it.
Himpathy doesn’t just happen in politics, it can take the form of the College Quarterback, High School Teacher, Work Supervisor, Police Officer, the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company or even a Pastor, a man of the Lord. It’s not my place to give a verdict in this case, to decide whether Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Dr. Christine Ford all those years ago or if she’s lying. I will however pass judgment on something I do know, Himpathy is real and it needs stop, not just for the victims fortunate enough to have the mean to stand up to it but to every victim.
You may have heard the saying that “society is judged by three things, how it treats the children, sick and the elderly” or a version thereof. While the quote has noble intent it should be “a society is judged by this… how it treats everyone.”
Citations and Sources
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/28/17914308/kavanaugh-ford-question-dodge-hearing-chart
https://www.vox.com/2018/9/27/17887210/brett-kavanaugh-christine-blasey-ford-hearing-kate-manne
https://abcnews.go.com/US/fbi-investigation-kavanaugh-sham-fords-lawyers/story?id=58317743
http://time.com/5418510/trump-kavanaugh-hoax/
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By James Robison. James is a Social Worker and advocate in North MS.
- Society Handed Me A Mask - April 10, 2019
- Introduction - November 11, 2018
- Himpathy - October 15, 2018