Long time, no blog. Sorry, folks. Life gets busy, internet stops working. Doubts creep in. Is feminism really what needs to be at the forefront of our minds right now? Gay teenagers are being bullied into committing suicide in disturbingly high numbers. Climate change feels like a noose tightening around our neck. What good is a blog, for crying out loud?
Still, I knew I had to write after Virginia Thomas demanded Anita Hill's apology to her husband, Clarence. (She called this “an olive branch.” Hmmm.) Why, you ask, would such a thing wake me from a two-month, blog-free slumber? I was still a kid when the Clarence Thomas hearings happened, and it made a huge impression on me. It was more than just the first time I realized why there was a need for feminists; it was when I started identifying as one.
My thought process at the time went much the same as now: What does Anita Hill have to gain personally by doing this? People claimed she was “put up to it.” Maybe she was encouraged to speak up- but so what? The reward that Hill got for her bravery was vilification and accusation of falsification. And now Virginia Thomas has the gall to ask for an apology?!
No, no. Let me.
I'm sorry that this has been so painful for you, Ms. Thomas. Honestly, I can't imagine what you must have felt standing by a man who sexually harassed other women. I'm sorry that your drama played out on a public stage, and that back then, leaving your husband was even less of an option than it is today. I can't imagine the pressure you must have felt to stay and play the role of the trusting wife, to keep up appearances despite any doubts you may have held. Obviously, this ordeal has been stewing for 19 years, and for whatever reason, it boiled over a few days ago, resulting in the ultimate act of denial: asking for an apology from one of your husband's victims. It's a shame for you that you didn't get what you wanted. But I would be lying if I said I didn't cheer when I heard of her refusal to make your desperate action seem legitimate.
You want to know what really makes me feel sorrow? When women like Anita Hill are bold enough to take their harassers to task and garner nothing but disbelief. I'm truly sorry that you, like much of our world, don't seem to understand that there is nothing for these women but threats, name-calling and a small possibility of seeing the person who wronged them brought to justice. Do you and all the others who question the validity of a woman's statement every time she is attacked, abused or harassed, really believe that she wants to add to her misery? Do you think women enjoy that kind of attention? Or is it just too horrible to hear that such things can and do happen? I couldn't be more sorry that they do. I'm sorry that it's easier to live in a state of denial than to admit that, for as they say, admitting the problem is the first step. I'm sorry that you don't recognize just how brave women who stand up for their rights really are. It seems to me like a basic thing, freedom from harassment. I'm sorry that you, and so many others, have failed to recognize that.
I know that I don't need to say it, but obviously it hasn't been said enough: I still believe Anita Hill.
