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| The ‘Tight Rope’ of Testifying While Female | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| She dressed modestly, in a navy suit and dark-rimmed glasses. No flashy jewelry, little makeup. | She dressed modestly, in a navy suit and dark-rimmed glasses. No flashy jewelry, little makeup. |
| She is a professor and psychologist with an impressive C.V. | She is a professor and psychologist with an impressive C.V. |
| She is white, and blond, and pretty — but not too pretty — with an intact family, suburban home and children. | She is white, and blond, and pretty — but not too pretty — with an intact family, suburban home and children. |
| She teared up in her testimony — her voice cracking — but she did not openly cry or break down. | She teared up in her testimony — her voice cracking — but she did not openly cry or break down. |
| And she smiled! She pleaded for caffeine and joked about Google interns renting out her home. | And she smiled! She pleaded for caffeine and joked about Google interns renting out her home. |
| “These are all codes for ‘she is displaying proper expectations of femininity,’” said Marianne Cooper, a sociologist at Stanford who studies gender inequality. “Women are walking a very fine line. Too much or too little of something can lead people to discredit them. That so many people found Dr. Blasey Ford credible suggests that she was able to get across that tight rope and not fall off.” | “These are all codes for ‘she is displaying proper expectations of femininity,’” said Marianne Cooper, a sociologist at Stanford who studies gender inequality. “Women are walking a very fine line. Too much or too little of something can lead people to discredit them. That so many people found Dr. Blasey Ford credible suggests that she was able to get across that tight rope and not fall off.” |
| In other words, Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who on Thursday told the Senate Judiciary Committee in excruciating detail that Brett M. Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers, was everything a victim is supposed to be. | In other words, Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who on Thursday told the Senate Judiciary Committee in excruciating detail that Brett M. Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers, was everything a victim is supposed to be. |
| [Want more analysis of women and gender? Sign up for Gender Letter, a weekly newsletter.] | [Want more analysis of women and gender? Sign up for Gender Letter, a weekly newsletter.] |
| Whether or not Judge Kavanaugh ends up on the United States Supreme Court, the hearing was nothing short of a watershed moment. | Whether or not Judge Kavanaugh ends up on the United States Supreme Court, the hearing was nothing short of a watershed moment. |
| It was perhaps the most important one since 1991, when women gathered around water coolers and in airport lounges to watch Anita Hill testify about Clarence Thomas — effectively educating a generation about the definition of workplace sexual harassment. | It was perhaps the most important one since 1991, when women gathered around water coolers and in airport lounges to watch Anita Hill testify about Clarence Thomas — effectively educating a generation about the definition of workplace sexual harassment. |
| And if it provided a similar generational schooling on the nuances and lasting repercussions of teenage assault, it was also a stark reminder of the gender dynamics, and mental gymnastics, required of women who speak up (or speak at all). | And if it provided a similar generational schooling on the nuances and lasting repercussions of teenage assault, it was also a stark reminder of the gender dynamics, and mental gymnastics, required of women who speak up (or speak at all). |
| There was the offhand remark by the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, about the “female assistant” who would question Dr. Blasey — actually a seasoned prosecutor of sex crimes, Rachel Mitchell. | There was the offhand remark by the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, about the “female assistant” who would question Dr. Blasey — actually a seasoned prosecutor of sex crimes, Rachel Mitchell. |
| There were the repeated interruptions by male senators of the women in the room, starting in the first minutes with the Republican chairman, Senator Charles E. Grassley. | There were the repeated interruptions by male senators of the women in the room, starting in the first minutes with the Republican chairman, Senator Charles E. Grassley. |
| It is worth keeping in mind that the Senate is a place where, up until a decade ago, women were not allowed in the swimming pool because the men liked to swim naked. It remains an institution where women cannot enter the floor with their shoulders showing, and it has struggled to figure out how to solve its own misconduct problem. | It is worth keeping in mind that the Senate is a place where, up until a decade ago, women were not allowed in the swimming pool because the men liked to swim naked. It remains an institution where women cannot enter the floor with their shoulders showing, and it has struggled to figure out how to solve its own misconduct problem. |
| And, of course, the Republican members of the Judiciary Committee are all men. | And, of course, the Republican members of the Judiciary Committee are all men. |
| That is one thing that has not changed since 1991. | That is one thing that has not changed since 1991. |
| But Dr. Blasey was not forced to reckon with the racial components of Professor Hill’s hearing. Justice Thomas called the charges against him a “high-tech lynching” while Professor Hill, as a black woman, faced a complicated interplay of racism and sexism. | But Dr. Blasey was not forced to reckon with the racial components of Professor Hill’s hearing. Justice Thomas called the charges against him a “high-tech lynching” while Professor Hill, as a black woman, faced a complicated interplay of racism and sexism. |
| Unlike Professor Hill, who was accused of bringing “sleaze” into the Senate, Dr. Blasey instantly won very public support, including from numerous senators who declared on Thursday: “I believe you.” | Unlike Professor Hill, who was accused of bringing “sleaze” into the Senate, Dr. Blasey instantly won very public support, including from numerous senators who declared on Thursday: “I believe you.” |
| Even Senator Orrin Hatch — who implied in 1991 that parts of Professor Hill’s testimony had been adapted from “The Exorcist” — called Dr. Blasey an “attractive,” “pleasing” witness. (“I don’t think she’s uncredible,” he said during a hearing lunch break.) | Even Senator Orrin Hatch — who implied in 1991 that parts of Professor Hill’s testimony had been adapted from “The Exorcist” — called Dr. Blasey an “attractive,” “pleasing” witness. (“I don’t think she’s uncredible,” he said during a hearing lunch break.) |
| By day’s end, though, we had another glaring double standard: a woman who gained trust by maintaining ultimate composure — by balancing her expertise with being unthreatening — and a man who tried to convince the world, or at least the president backing him, of his fitness by losing it: waffling between anger and tears, red in the face, and declaring himself a victim of “revenge on behalf of the Clintons.” | By day’s end, though, we had another glaring double standard: a woman who gained trust by maintaining ultimate composure — by balancing her expertise with being unthreatening — and a man who tried to convince the world, or at least the president backing him, of his fitness by losing it: waffling between anger and tears, red in the face, and declaring himself a victim of “revenge on behalf of the Clintons.” |
| “If he were a woman we’d be questioning if she were unhinged,” said Alicia Menendez, a correspondent for PBS, of Kavanaugh’s opening statement. | “If he were a woman we’d be questioning if she were unhinged,” said Alicia Menendez, a correspondent for PBS, of Kavanaugh’s opening statement. |
| It was like years of academic research on display in real time, in which women who express anger will be dismissed as hysterical but men who express anger are perceived as “passionate” about the job. | It was like years of academic research on display in real time, in which women who express anger will be dismissed as hysterical but men who express anger are perceived as “passionate” about the job. |
| In contrast, Dr. Blasey remained calm, speaking in a soft, girl-like tone about a thing that happened as a girl but has stayed with her for three decades. | In contrast, Dr. Blasey remained calm, speaking in a soft, girl-like tone about a thing that happened as a girl but has stayed with her for three decades. |
| In searing detail, she described how the “boys” she knew in high school — just “Brett” and “Mark,” not “Judge Kavanaugh” or “Mark Judge” — pushed her into a room and pinned her down, then laughed uproariously, “having fun at my expense.” | In searing detail, she described how the “boys” she knew in high school — just “Brett” and “Mark,” not “Judge Kavanaugh” or “Mark Judge” — pushed her into a room and pinned her down, then laughed uproariously, “having fun at my expense.” |
| She also managed her own testimony with the precision of a scientist. | She also managed her own testimony with the precision of a scientist. |
| When asked by Ms. Feinstein why she had kept the story to herself for so long, she replied that she had not: “I brought it up in therapy, which seemed an appropriate place to deal with the sequelae of the assault.” | When asked by Ms. Feinstein why she had kept the story to herself for so long, she replied that she had not: “I brought it up in therapy, which seemed an appropriate place to deal with the sequelae of the assault.” |
| (Sequela — that’s a noun referring to an “aftereffect of a disease, condition or injury,” according to Merriam Webster.) | (Sequela — that’s a noun referring to an “aftereffect of a disease, condition or injury,” according to Merriam Webster.) |
| On how she was “sure” it was Judge Kavanaugh, and not another person, who attacked her on that night all those years ago, she replied that it was “the way that I’m sure that I’m talking to you right now — it’s just basic memory functions,” including “the level of norepinephrine and epinephrine” that “codes memories into the hippocampus” so that “trauma-related experience is locked there.” | On how she was “sure” it was Judge Kavanaugh, and not another person, who attacked her on that night all those years ago, she replied that it was “the way that I’m sure that I’m talking to you right now — it’s just basic memory functions,” including “the level of norepinephrine and epinephrine” that “codes memories into the hippocampus” so that “trauma-related experience is locked there.” |
| She was operating, as some pointed out, as both expert and witness — confirming her own perspective, each step of the way, before there was the chance for anyone to ask her to do it. | She was operating, as some pointed out, as both expert and witness — confirming her own perspective, each step of the way, before there was the chance for anyone to ask her to do it. |
| “Rather than the vague pop-psychology language of trauma that has surrounded this story, Ford could offer a more technical, and better-defended, account,” wrote Ben Wallace-Wells in The New Yorker. | “Rather than the vague pop-psychology language of trauma that has surrounded this story, Ford could offer a more technical, and better-defended, account,” wrote Ben Wallace-Wells in The New Yorker. |
| And yet she also lamented how she’d like to have been more “collaborative” with the committee and would have happily hosted the chairman and his Republican colleagues in her California home (the home she has now had to vacate because of death threats). | And yet she also lamented how she’d like to have been more “collaborative” with the committee and would have happily hosted the chairman and his Republican colleagues in her California home (the home she has now had to vacate because of death threats). |
| When asked what time she would like to take a break, she replied: “Does that work for you?” (“I’m used to being collegial,” she said, when Senator Grassley replied that it was up to her.) | When asked what time she would like to take a break, she replied: “Does that work for you?” (“I’m used to being collegial,” she said, when Senator Grassley replied that it was up to her.) |
| “I’m heartbroken watching Dr. Ford make jokes, giggle, and say she’ll read quickly, because she shouldn’t have to make a bunch of white men feel comfortable when recounting her sexual assault,” the writer Lily Herman tweeted. | “I’m heartbroken watching Dr. Ford make jokes, giggle, and say she’ll read quickly, because she shouldn’t have to make a bunch of white men feel comfortable when recounting her sexual assault,” the writer Lily Herman tweeted. |
| And yet, what choice did she have? | And yet, what choice did she have? |
| “It’s like the Anita Hill hearing didn’t just teach us about sexual harassment, it also taught us that credible victimhood had to align with conventional gender expectations,” said Rachel Simmons, the director of the Phoebe Reese Lewis Leadership Program at Smith College. “Be smart, but not too smart. Tell us what happened, but don’t yell. Smile and be nice above all.” | “It’s like the Anita Hill hearing didn’t just teach us about sexual harassment, it also taught us that credible victimhood had to align with conventional gender expectations,” said Rachel Simmons, the director of the Phoebe Reese Lewis Leadership Program at Smith College. “Be smart, but not too smart. Tell us what happened, but don’t yell. Smile and be nice above all.” |
| In her prepared remarks, Dr. Blasey explained that the reason she had not come spoken up earlier was that she believed “my voice would be drowned out by a chorus of powerful supporters.” | In her prepared remarks, Dr. Blasey explained that the reason she had not come spoken up earlier was that she believed “my voice would be drowned out by a chorus of powerful supporters.” |
| Drowned out it was not. How it may change things for the next storyteller remains the question. | Drowned out it was not. How it may change things for the next storyteller remains the question. |