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FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE
After years of being told that there is no black or white, that rather, things exist in shades of gray, we in the Women's Movement find ourselves in a classic "Catch 22".
We ached watching Smeal and Ireland take the brunt of the irreligious right's well trained kamikaze attack on national T.V. They, and by extension, all of us were charged with SUPPORTING the crime of rape.
When has any person or group ever been held responsible for the ALLEGED behavior of an office holder, a candidate or party that they have chosen to support? Why now is the Women's Movement? Why do we allow it?
For years past, we women fought all the bloody battles against rape. It was a struggle at first, just to get RAPE seen as a CRIME rather than a SPORT.
We stood up for women, and still do, who are brutalized in this manner. We formed and supported rape crisis centers. We fought to make date rape what it is -- a criminal act!
We took on marital rape which formerly was called "a husband's privilege." We got knocked around, called extremist and man-haters but we persisted.
We finally, late in this decade, got RAPE declared a WAR CRIME.
We had to learn the hard lessons of LAW. We had to accept the shades of gray. We had to agree that yes, sometimes, some women lied about being raped. It might be from remorse or anger, but it does happen. And, yes, it was also important that no man should be ac- cused unjustly.
Now suddenly, our whole movement is under attack over an alleged rape said to have happened 21 years ago in Arkansas. There is no proof that this rape ever occurred. There are no witnesses and the woman never filed a complaint.
Yet our movement is being vilified for not coming forth in complete support of this woman. When we speak of the lack of proof, we are accused of protecting the alleged rapist.
Shades of gray. How does one answer these ferocious charges from women who were mere children 21 years ago? Twenty-one years ago, WE were still battling a culture that insisted that if a woman was raped *she was asking for it.*
Twenty-one years ago, "It was the way she was dressed," we were told. "She invited him into her room, what did she expect," they said. "Wives must submit to their husbands, it's in the bible."
Our movement persisted. We demanded the right to dress as we pleased and insisted that our society blame the rapist, not the victim.
We still do, and we are there for these victims of rape who report it. We care for them, collect evidence, and support their right to fair treatment under the law. We also support the right OF THE ALLEGED RAPIST to a fair hearing.
But what can we or anyone possibly do about a 21-year-old, unproven charge? Go back to the black and white? Go back to blaming the man no matter what the proof? That seems to be what many of us are doing to cover our embarrassment? Our confusion? Our ignorance? Ridiculous!
Is one woman suddenly credible 21 years after the fact when she never reported the rape, when no evidence was collected and when she denied it for most of the 21 years?
And if EVERY woman who claimed she had been raped 21 years ago came forth and made such a claim, how could we deal with it? How do we proceed?
The answer is that we could do nothing. We are not responsible for the climate of those times, BUT WE WERE AND ARE STILL RESPONSIBLE FOR CHANGING THAT CLIMATE! And we should be damn proud of it.
Besides, it isn't whether 1 or even 100,000 women come forth with such a claim *that has caused this pandemonium.* It is because the majority of the U.S. Senate refused to remove the President from office.
Whatever it takes, whatever they have to do, the fanatical, fundamentalist core of the G.O.P. are determined to erase the gender gap through dirty tricks, guilt (ours) and cunning.
We women are a prime target. They believe they can discredit our movement in the eyes of women who have grown up taking the rights we had to fight for, for granted. We can expect future attacks on our credibility.
We respectfully suggest A CHANGE OF TACTICS. We advise those who are speaking out for us to learn a positive mantra of our Movement's accomplishments and spit it out loud and clear. We ask them to take the initiative instead of being forced back into a feeble, apologetic and defensive position.
When
the media calls for a representative to speak for the Women's Movement,
send some of our brightest minds and sharpest tongues from the YOUNGER
GENERATION -- our secret, full of fire and mostly unused, weapon.
These women were NOT conditioned as we were by years of repression. They will forcefully rebut the opposition's shrill, unfounded charges meant to put us on the defensive and to make us look as if we approve of rape by the simple process of monopolizing the conversation.
These young people "do not remember the past" -- the horrors we experienced and overcame. They have, however, learned the painful lessons of Woman's History from us, and they are determined that it NOT be repeated by their generation and those that come after.
1999-010
Copyright 1999 Renee T. Louise and Ruth M. Sprague, Ph.D. These articles may be republished for noncommercial use only, provided that they are copied intact, and that this copyright notice is attached. Address all queries to: twanda@ConnRiver.net.
G e n d e r G a p p e r s T M
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