I personally suffered a me too minute, so what I write comes from someone who knows the problem too well and also knows law. I did wonder how women not related to the case were permitted to testify, but having little time to research that area of law, I didn’t find the legal answer. I did remember the horror a friend in college felt when she testified about being raped by 10 young men in a New York subway. All who had raped her testified she wanted sex when riding in the subway. Their lawyers brought in evidence that she had had sex with other men to try to get the jury to believe it likely she would have had sex willingly with ten guys as she traveled from work to home on the subway. I believe she said eventually these men were convicted but being the victim in that trial made her feel that she had been raped again. At some point, the law changed to not allow unrelated to the case testimony about a woman’s past sexual history. This was a NY case and I practice civil law in another state. For that reason, I cannot verify the law and interpretations of it by these appellate judges. In addition, so many supporters of “me too” have been absolutely silent about what Hamas did to many women on October 7th in Israel. I expected to hear from my feminist non jewish friends, and those with whom I worked as a staff person and a volunteer in the women’s movement loud condemnation of the gang rapes and the splitting pregnant women’s belies so these operatives of Hamas could behead the fetus before the woman died. Instead, from them, almost no outrage. And there were some who hailed the “resistance”- as if rapes, murders and taking hostages on what should have been a peaceful Saturday/Jewish holiday morning was a positive solution to a problem. These feminists saved their outrage for when israel tried to root out Hamas operatives, and save hostages’ lives while Hamas hid itself and hostages in deep tunnels connected to hospitals etc. Hamas made no provisions to protect anyone except their warriors and political operatives. So these folks praising the resistance believe the deaths of innocents in Gaza came not because Hamas failed to build bomb shelters or other protections for them, but because Israel attacked, killing civilian women and children as well as warriors and those wanting to be martyrs for the cause. How could Israel avoid killing them when Hamas deeply imbedded its warriors and used civilians as cannon fodder? Me Too feminists skipped talking about Hamas’ horrid gang rapes in Israel, but Me Too supporters called Israel’s actions genocide- I.e. murder to destroy a people rather than inevitable deaths of civilians deliberately used to protect Hamas operatives from being harmed after Gams broke a cease fire using horrific gang rapes and murders of innocents. FYI Hamas’ charter calls for turning Israel into an Islamic stare and murdering Jews all over the workman’s. That is “intent”! How to support these Me Too people whose interest in justice for women is so shallow?
#Me too is very personal for me on many levels. I worked with the Weinstein’s in the early nineties. I was attacked at work violently at least four times by my male superiors in the 70’s. It was dangerous cutting trail as a woman in that industry. If you did talk, you never worked again. That was a constant. Many of those men deserve to be prosecuted, that is our truth. I never got any hush money, but I did sign many DNA’s. Silenced by corporate law.
This is a great analysis of why that testimony mattered and the consequences of this appeal.
I personally suffered a me too minute, so what I write comes from someone who knows the problem too well and also knows law. I did wonder how women not related to the case were permitted to testify, but having little time to research that area of law, I didn’t find the legal answer. I did remember the horror a friend in college felt when she testified about being raped by 10 young men in a New York subway. All who had raped her testified she wanted sex when riding in the subway. Their lawyers brought in evidence that she had had sex with other men to try to get the jury to believe it likely she would have had sex willingly with ten guys as she traveled from work to home on the subway. I believe she said eventually these men were convicted but being the victim in that trial made her feel that she had been raped again. At some point, the law changed to not allow unrelated to the case testimony about a woman’s past sexual history. This was a NY case and I practice civil law in another state. For that reason, I cannot verify the law and interpretations of it by these appellate judges. In addition, so many supporters of “me too” have been absolutely silent about what Hamas did to many women on October 7th in Israel. I expected to hear from my feminist non jewish friends, and those with whom I worked as a staff person and a volunteer in the women’s movement loud condemnation of the gang rapes and the splitting pregnant women’s belies so these operatives of Hamas could behead the fetus before the woman died. Instead, from them, almost no outrage. And there were some who hailed the “resistance”- as if rapes, murders and taking hostages on what should have been a peaceful Saturday/Jewish holiday morning was a positive solution to a problem. These feminists saved their outrage for when israel tried to root out Hamas operatives, and save hostages’ lives while Hamas hid itself and hostages in deep tunnels connected to hospitals etc. Hamas made no provisions to protect anyone except their warriors and political operatives. So these folks praising the resistance believe the deaths of innocents in Gaza came not because Hamas failed to build bomb shelters or other protections for them, but because Israel attacked, killing civilian women and children as well as warriors and those wanting to be martyrs for the cause. How could Israel avoid killing them when Hamas deeply imbedded its warriors and used civilians as cannon fodder? Me Too feminists skipped talking about Hamas’ horrid gang rapes in Israel, but Me Too supporters called Israel’s actions genocide- I.e. murder to destroy a people rather than inevitable deaths of civilians deliberately used to protect Hamas operatives from being harmed after Gams broke a cease fire using horrific gang rapes and murders of innocents. FYI Hamas’ charter calls for turning Israel into an Islamic stare and murdering Jews all over the workman’s. That is “intent”! How to support these Me Too people whose interest in justice for women is so shallow?
#Me too is very personal for me on many levels. I worked with the Weinstein’s in the early nineties. I was attacked at work violently at least four times by my male superiors in the 70’s. It was dangerous cutting trail as a woman in that industry. If you did talk, you never worked again. That was a constant. Many of those men deserve to be prosecuted, that is our truth. I never got any hush money, but I did sign many DNA’s. Silenced by corporate law.
Best you have written so far. Says me.