(Thread) Rolling back the clock

Senator Graham: “I want to listen to her, but I’m being honest with you. . . what do you expect me to do?. . . ruin this guy’s life based on an accusation?”

A brief history of rape laws puts the current debacle in context. https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1043915402580033537">https://twitter.com/kylegriff...
1/ For much of world history, rape was a property crime.

An unmarried girl was her father’s property. A married woman was her husband’s property.

If a virgin was raped, the property damage was to her father.
If she was married, the damage was to her husband.
2/ If she wasn’t a virgin and wasn’t married, there was no crime (because the property was already damaged).

A man couldn’t rape his wife (his own property) and rape of enslaved women wasn’t a crime. Even after the Civil War, rape of a black woman wasn& #39;t recognized.
3/ The law was intended to protect (white) men from false accusation; not to protect women from attack.

The social hierarchy in the 19th & early 20th century determined the law: Black men were lynched if accused by a white woman, etc.
5/ A woman’s behavior was taken into account: How was she dressed? was she out alone?

Rape was seen as natural result of "human" nature. Men were aggressors, so a woman was responsible for guarding her chastity.

What Rep. King was getting to here: https://twitter.com/jbendery/status/1043906772816330754">https://twitter.com/jbendery/...
6/ As late as the 1970s, a defendant in a rape trial could present evidence that the woman had, in the past, engaged in sexual behavior.

The "sexual history" defense was based on 2 assumptions:
First, if she was unchaste or immoral, her word couldn’t be trusted.
7/ Second, if she wasn’t a virgin, there was no crime because the goods were already damaged.

By the 1970s and 1980s—under pressure from women’s activists—states enacted what called "Rape Shield Laws."
8/ These laws protected victims and prevented their sexual history from being used as a defense. https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/rape-shield-laws-protecting-sex-crime-victims.html

Sexual">https://www.nolo.com/legal-enc... assault (sexual touching without the act completed) is a relatively new crime.
Sexual harassment wasn’t taken seriously until the 1980s.
9/ The assumption was that if a woman received advances, she wanted it.

Brownmiller sent shockwaves in 1975 when, in Against Our Will, she argued that rape was not a natural result of human nature. It was a means of exerting patriarchal power.
10/ The Trump-GOP is (partly) a backlash against the Civil Rights & Women’s Rights movementshttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten"> and an attempt to roll back the clock to the time when powerful men didn’t have to worry about being accused by less powerful (or not well-connected) women. https://twitter.com/Teri_Kanefield/status/1039539574572085248">https://twitter.com/Teri_Kane...
11/ Senator Graham’s statement—that basically Dr. Ford& #39;s word is a mere accusation, is a throwback to that era.

Actually, witness testimony IS evidence, and is evaluated for reliability, like any evidence.

Ann Coulter agrees with Grahamhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten"> https://twitter.com/AnnCoulter/status/1043911526279712768">https://twitter.com/AnnCoulte...
12/ Don’t be surprised.

There have always been women who have stood against advancement in women& #39;s rights.
https://twitter.com/AnnCoulter/status/1043911526279712768

Susan">https://twitter.com/AnnCoulte... B. Anthony was up against a backlash of women who insisted that they “had all the rights they needed” and didn’t WANT to vote.
13/ In the1980s, women like Phyllis Schafly led an anti-feminist movement & derailed the ERA (she also endorsed Trump for president).

Some women, too, want a patriarchy, when “elite” white women were placed on a “pedestal.”

Now Kavanaugh’s accusers want an FBI investigation.
14/ The Trump-GOP says no to a full investigation, a way to not only to disbelieve, but also to silence the full story.

What& #39;s going on?

In the words of Profs. Ziblatt and Levitsky in How Democracies Die, "majorities rarely give up their dominant status without a fight.” https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten">
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