Monday, July 27, 2015

Perhaps one of the most powerful magazine covers of all time.

So far, 46 women have come forward to accuse Bill Cosby of sexual assault, in some cases, according to a recently unsealed deposition, with the aid of quaaludes—a powerful sedative that can render a person functionally immobile. But these allegations are by no means new, with some stretching back decades—to a time when the culture of rape in America left victims little recourse but to suffer silently, and in shame. Today, the way we think and talk about rape has evolved, creating a safer space for survivors to feel empowered by speaking up and reclaiming their victimhood. And that’s led us here. Of the 46 women who have come forward to accuse Cosby, we spoke to 35 of them — “a sorrowful sisterhood” of women united by their dark experiences, steadfast in their resolve to remain silent no more. Read more: nymag.com/cosby-women. 📷: Amanda Demme
A photo posted by New York Magazine (@nymag) on
Here is a link to the article.

In it you will read the testimony of 35 women who are telling eerily similar stories about their abuse at the hands of a once beloved television personality.

It should be noted that this story was so disturbing to some people out there that hackers shut down New York magazine's webpage after the story hit the internet. 

There is really not much more that I can add here, except to say that if this many women were sexually abused by only one man, how many other women are out there staying silent about their abuse at the hands of men less famous, but just as dismissive of their rights as human beings?
 

68 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:35 PM

    Actually I preferred this week's New Yorker cover with Trumpty Dumpty doing a big belly flop into the pool.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can't remember a more powerful cover.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous4:47 PM

    measured in fuck-tons the number is still probably very high

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous5:02 PM

    He was all about being a great family man. So much for that myth.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:40 PM

      He was also all about scolding young Black men to be more responsible and respectable.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous6:14 PM

      Yeah X2 on him being a scold.

      Apparently there are worse things than sagging pants and mf this and that.

      Like being a serial rapist.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous5:10 PM

    the inclusion of the empty chair at the end of the line is very powerful. Who knows how many others there were?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:28 PM

      The empty chair was not meant for others he violated, but for all women who have been violated to speak up. Very powerful.

      Keep trying the New Yorker link. I waited until I got home from work because I thought traffic would have died down. It is there, click every picture and their story. Same pattern, Bill Cosby is a predator AND a rapist.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous5:11 PM

    Couldnt Bill effectively make the case that the number of women NOT accusing him of rape is significantly larger than the number who do? Sure, that position won't earn him a statue at Disneyland, but it could be financially rewarding.

    There;s no question that Cos will turn this around and rehabilitate his reputation eventually. Im confident that by the time he's back to performing stand-up at the President Trump Casino in Vegas, climate change will have turned the famous Strip into oceanfront property.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:04 PM

      ID-10-T.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:32 PM

      I don't know what you are lacking in knowledge about the American court system but it isn't tit for tat. It doesn't decide if you didn't murder 1000 people you have met that you didn't murder the one you were accused of murdering. You are a perfect example about what is wrong with our jury system.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous9:42 PM

      Oh yeah...this ones a French fry short!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous7:34 AM

      The OP was joking.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous5:12 PM


    ‘I’m No Longer Afraid’: 35 Women Tell Their Stories About Being Assaulted by Bill Cosby, and the Culture That Wouldn’t Listen

    http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/07/bill-cosbys-accusers-speak-out.html

    http://www.vox.com/2015/7/26/9044867/bill-cosby-new-york-magazine

    https://twitter.com/NYMag

    A single image from New York magazine is more powerful than all of Bill Cosby’s denials

    http://qz.com/464519/a-single-image-from-new-york-magazine-is-more-powerful-than-all-of-bill-cosbys-denials/

    New York magazine’s website was taken down, apparently by hackers trying to silence it, just hours after publishing the accounts of 35 women who say they were raped by Bill Cosby.

    http://qz.com/464609/hackers-say-we-know-one-of-them-females-in-the-cover-after-new-york-magazines-website-goes-down-in-an-attack/

    Check out Social Media’s Powerful Response to New York Magazine’s #TheEmptyChair

    http://www.ryot.org/check-out-social-medias-powerful-response-to-new-york-magazines-theemptychair/939072

    Follow @elonjames #TheEmptyChair as he posts messages from rape survivors who no one believed. Heartbreaking. Reading through #TheEmptyChair is gut wrenching. Imperative we change the skeptical attitude towards survivors

    https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheEmptyChair?src=hash

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous6:09 PM

    Anyone remember this? Well, Camille, your husband has been outed and, as for you, Bill, you "expect the black media to uphold the standards of excellence in journalism?" I don't see many coming to your defense, and how dare that you brought race into it.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/15/bill-cosby-wife-statement_n_6329946.html

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous6:13 PM

    I hope these women are able to sue him for every last penny he has. And once he's completely penniless, then he loses his freedom for the rest of his life.

    He deserves it. The man is a serial rapist. No other way to say it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:29 PM

      You bet! A civil suit can do it.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous5:46 AM

      Cosby is a public nuisance.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous6:15 PM

    Trump too?

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/27/ex-wife-donald-trump-made-feel-violated-during-sex.html?via=desktop&source=twitter

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous6:16 PM

    I wonder if Camille Cosby sat in one of those chairs?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:30 PM

      She was looking at their bank account.
      I'm sure she knows more than enough now.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous6:21 PM

    A pretty huge Daily Beast report tonight about Donald Trump‘s ex-wife once alleging rape includes a pretty remarkable statement from Trump spokesman and special counsel Michael Cohen to the reporters.

    The Daily Beast report goes through how years ago, Ivana Trump alleged that her husband raped her. A 1993 book on Trump‘s life said that Trump grabbed his wife, tore her clothes off, and assaulted her. Author Harry Hurt III wrote, “According to versions she repeats to some of her closest confidantes, ‘he raped me.'”

    What followed was a “violent assault,” according to Lost Tycoon. Donald held back Ivana’s arms and began to pull out fistfuls of hair from her scalp, as if to mirror the pain he felt from his own operation. He tore off her clothes and unzipped his pants.

    “Then he jams his penis inside her for the first time in more than sixteen months. Ivana is terrified…It is a violent assault,” Hurt writes. “According to versions she repeats to some of her closest confidantes, ‘he raped me.’”

    Following the incident, Ivana ran upstairs, hid behind a locked door, and remained there “crying for the rest of night.” When she returned to the master bedroom in the morning, he was there.

    “As she looks in horror at the ripped-out hair scattered all over the bed, he glares at her and asks with menacing casualness: ‘Does it hurt?’”

    And then his bully lawyer started threatening reporters:

    Trump’s lawyer then changed tactics, lobbing insults and threatening a lawsuit if a story was published.

    “I will make sure that you and I meet one day while we’re in the courthouse. And I will take you for every penny you still don’t have. And I will come after your Daily Beast and everybody else that you possibly know,” Cohen said. “So I’m warning you, tread very fucking lightly, because what I’m going to do to you is going to be fucking disgusting. You understand me?”

    “You write a story that has Mr. Trump’s name in it, with the word ‘rape,’ and I’m going to mess your life up…for as long as you’re on this frickin’ planet…you’re going to have judgments against you, so much money, you’ll never know how to get out from underneath it,” he added.

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/27/ex-wife-donald-trump-made-feel-violated-during-sex.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:32 PM

      That does not surprise me either.
      Waving at YOU, pristine $arah.
      Wanna be next? Snort another line.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous6:42 PM

      You really wonder how much is behind the facades we see everyday as outstanding people in their public lives.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous6:54 PM

      No surprise. He's a bully, he's always been a bully, and obviously he's got a sleazy, little dick lawyer who is throwing his weight around. Trump is a classless buffoon with zero grace or dignity. He measure EVERYTHING by money. If you listen to him, he's always using that yardstick to determine if someone is successful, whether it's a person, a newspaper, an institution, it's always the same. He is so skewed in his thinking I shudder to even entertain the possibility that he could b president.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous7:03 PM

      Attorney for Donald Trump denies marital rape exists — and threatens to ‘mess up’ reporter’s life

      ...On Monday, Cohen also allegedly threatened to “come after” Daily Beast reporter Tim Mak and take them “for every penny you still don’t have.”

      “I’m warning you, tread very f*cking lightly, because what I’m going to do to you is going to be f*cking disgusting,” Cohen reportedly said. “You understand me? You write a story that has Mr. Trump’s name in it, with the word ‘rape,’ and I’m going to mess your life up.”

      http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/attorney-for-donald-trump-denies-marital-rape-exists-and-threatens-to-mess-up-reporters-life/

      Delete
    5. Anonymous7:12 PM

      All The Charts You Need To Prove Donald Trump Supporters Are Uneducated Bigots (CHARTS)

      http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/07/27/all-the-charts-you-need-to-prove-donald-trump-supporters-are-uneducated-bigots-charts/

      Delete
    6. Anonymous7:14 PM

      Trump Spox on Past Ex-Wife Allegation: Legally, ‘You Can’t Rape Your Spouse’

      Delete
    7. Anonymous8:32 PM

      "I've said if Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her."

      "My fingers are long and beautiful, as, it has been well been documented, are various other parts of my body."

      "You know, it really doesn`t matter what [the media] write as long as you`ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass."

      --Donald Trump really said it

      Delete
    8. Anonymous9:48 PM

      Lol...aw where is Megan McCain at the Daily Beast when these fools go bully? Damn would have loved to hear that! Don't you threaten me you little weasel!

      Delete
    9. Anonymous1:21 AM

      Oh! For Goodness Sakes!!!

      Delete
  13. Anonymous6:39 PM

    ‘America’s Rapist': NY Mag, NY Daily News Covers Savage Cosby

    http://www.mediaite.com/print/americas-rapist-mymag-ny-daily-news-covers-savage-cosby/

    http://static01.mediaite.com/med/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/CK6y8SAWgAABBP8.jpg

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous6:41 PM

    A few years ago, a local pastor who self-righteously preached hell-fire and brimstone at both of my great-grandparents' funerals was brought to trial and found guilty for assaulting at least five female members of his congregation that was seeing for marital counseling.

    I remember being disgusted at his self-righteous attitude at the funerals, and once all these stories came out about him, I was enraged. Even more so at some of the members of the small town who blamed the women. Long story short, the good pastor's serving a five-year sentence. Not long enough, IMO.

    Cosby reminds me so much of him, just on a larger scale. It scares me that people like this can walk around and justify their actions. How do they sleep at night? I'll never understand.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous6:57 PM

    I can totally believe the story by The Daily Beast. From what I see of him running president, Ivana's story is true.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:35 PM

      Melania must love the money.
      Barron will grow up to be an asshole.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous9:05 PM

      This to:
      http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/thom-hartmann-donald-trump-supporter-scott-walker-and-koch-brothers

      Delete
  16. Anonymous7:23 PM

    NY mag had a DDOS attack last night. People were posting links to the wayback machine.

    Really beats me who'd launch a DDOS attack against something like this. Must be a lotta creeps out there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous2:36 AM

      The same idiots who made death threats against a woman who spoke up about the sexist abuse in the videogame world.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous7:23 PM

    I want to mention one thing. When his son Ennis was killed by the side of the road, it was tragic for him, as it would be for any parent. I felt sorry for him at the time To think of how he preyed on women...I saw him in '77 when he came to my university for Dad's weekend with my father. To think that he was doing this at the time, I am sorry I bought tickets. Makes me sick.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:43 PM

      My dad brought the first Cosby album into our home. It was the one with him holding a basketball. We used to gather around the record player and listen and giggle ourselves silly. He would be horrified to learn of this man's dark side if he were alive today. It's tragic that someone who is so talented descended into such brutal and horrific behavior. I'm so glad that these womens' stories are finally being told. I'm so glad that FINALLY they are being listened to, believed and honored for their courage to come forward and relive these painful experiences in an effort to hold him responsible for his disgusting choices and criminal behavior. They are truly inspiring to me. I hope that whatever legal steps can be taken will be taken and he loses every dime he has and dies broke and broken.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:46 PM

      In addition to legitimate rape, honest rape, forcible rape, gift-from-god rape, emergency rape, wonderful rape, easy rape, enjoyable rape, non-violent rape, lemonade rape, real rape, marital rape, incestuous rape, consensual rape as various Republicans have defined over the years (http://goprapeadvisorychart.com/), we now have a new one courtesy of Cohen

      "Not literal rape"

      Delete
    3. Anonymous7:47 PM

      So Trump's lawyer says you "can't rape your own spouse". What a bunch a bull. Yes you can most certantly rape a spouse. If the woman/wife says no and the man has sex with her without her permission, then that is rape. NO will always mean NO. Pulling clumps of hair out and sexually assualting his wife and she said she felt violated than that is rape. Looks again like there are different laws for rich people. I do not care how much money you have the man should had been arrested. He pays people off or tries to sue people who cannot afford a lawyer. That is his M.O. Why was Trump not arrested when this happened. He should had been.

      Delete
  18. Balzafiar7:29 PM

    Even the thought of having any type of sexual encounter with Donald should make anyone feel violated. He's a disgusting pig that thinks his money will buy him anything he wants.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:50 PM

      Not everything or everyone!

      Delete
  19. Anonymous7:38 PM

    poor bill. he is only one piece of scum whom did such a thing. During that era it was common and thus we now have little boys continuing on with the abuse of women and boys will be boys. Pathetic that some people raise kids to be defective pos's.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous8:14 PM

    Quaaludes, Cosby’s Alleged Rape Drugs of Choice, Were Somehow Even Scarier Than You Think

    Some of Cosby’s accusers weren’t unconscious when he allegedly assaulted them. Many were awake, and unable to do anything about it.

    ...Which, of course, is horrible enough. But depending on dosage and metabolism, Quaaludes often leave users semi-awake, confused, and unable to control themselves.

    “I could hear the words in my head,” said one accuser, “but I couldn’t form words with my mouth, because I was so drugged out. He got up and came over, and he sat down and unzipped his fly.”

    Said another, “I started not feeling well… Something was wrong with me. And then he took my right hand, and he put it behind my back. I remember seeing semen on the floor. And I felt some liquid on my hand. That was when I knew something sexual was going on.”

    Notice, in these testimonies, the horrifying blend of consciousness and confusion. Reports of Quaaludes often have these characteristics: Users are dimly aware of themselves and their surroundings, but often unable to do anything about it.

    ...But imagine the terror if you don’t know what you’ve taken, and the man you thought was a trustworthy father figure turns out to be a rapist.

    Media reports have often tended to frame Cosby’s M.O. as causing these women to black out, and then sexually assaulting them. But as horrible as that is, what Cosby actually did is far worse. He kept many of his victims semi-conscious, but unable to defend themselves. Many of them were likely awake throughout the ordeal.

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/27/quaaludes-cosby-s-alleged-rape-drugs-of-choice-were-somehow-even-scarier-than-you-think.html

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous8:16 PM

    I paid a horrible price, nearly lost my life, for exposing a serial sexual abuser that was only locally well known back in the seventies. Because of the times and his power, I was absolutely crucified, even though there were other women who were abused, they would have been reluctant witnesses at trial. The defendant did much worse things to me as a result of my exposure, and he got away with it too. He got someone a job where I was working, who pretended to be my friend, but instead recorded every conversation I had with her, who was secretly poisoning me and who actually had hidden a camera in the bedroom, obviously without my knowledge that took pictures of intimate encounters and showed up in court with them, blown up to poster size and this was allowed? Yes, powerful people do terrible things to people who get in their way. I have had a lifetime of horrible health issues as a result of being poisoned by carbon tetrachloride. I went to the doctor because I got so sick and he tested my blood and told me. He wondered if I worked with chemicals. I paid a very heavy price for trying to do the right thing and I am still paying that price today. Wonder why women didn't come forward in those days against a power, popular man? Think no more, they were afraid, and rightly so. This story may sound ridiculous, but I assure you it is true and was documented in local newspapers at the time. I would hope society had changed, but still so many refuse to believe a so called good man could do things like this. You never really know what someone gets up to unless a victim or many come forth.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:01 PM

      Thank you for sharing your life story with us. I'm so sorry that you were hurt like that.

      Your voice is so important. You can provide insight into how these woman remained mostly silent until now, only now having the power in numbers that is allowing them to come forward and finally be heard.

      You can speak to the very circumstances that these women found themselves in. At the mercy of a rich, powerful, ruthless man with little recourse.

      You are a survivor. Bless you.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous4:08 AM

      Thank you for your kind words.

      Delete
  22. Anita Winecooler8:22 PM

    I think it speaks volumes, especially the empty chair in place of those who kept silent, but silence doesn't equal consent and all these women are more brave than Cosby ever was.
    The image, like the facts, are black and white. The women, sitting straight and facing forward with their heads held high, Everything about the composure of this photo shows the photographer's talent, whomever took it deserves a lot of credit.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous8:31 PM

    everything is about SEX
    Bullying then $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. In that order ! Everything!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:51 PM

      Yeah well when you stop thinking between your legs let us know!

      Delete
  24. Anonymous9:09 PM

    Doesn't it make you mad when you then read about slutty little Bristol Palin trying to infer that Levi got her drunk and date-raped her in a tent and THAT's how she got pregnant?

    This time the sad little cow isn't making any false accusations- is that because she'll get her head kicked in or because she doesn't know whom to lie about?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:04 AM

      YES!! This is why Bristol gets zero sympathy when people pile on her.

      Trying to destroy Levi's reputation to preserve hers. If he really stole her innocence as Bristol claims, why would she agree to marry him twice? If somebody did that to me I couldn't be in the same room with them.

      And her mother THE GOVERNOR does nothing? I'm sorry. If I'm the governor and you do something like that, I freaking bury you. I certainly don't introduce you to the country as my future son in law

      Simple rule: if a story doesn't sound true, it probably isn't true.

      Delete
    2. The very worst thing about Bristol's lies about being raped by Levi is the damage it does to legitimate rape victims. Because of the dishonesty of Bristol Palin and her game playing around this serious subject she has provided ammunition to the side that claims rape is no big deal.

      How could it be a big deal if women like Bristol wanted to marry their so-called rapists?

      Delete
  25. Anonymous9:11 PM

    It's just so hard to fathom how this bastard could get away with it with dozens of women over decades.

    I wonder how many of them perhaps went to the police or a lawyer and were talked out of it.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous9:37 PM

    O/T
    Uh oh, I think the GOP is trying to take out Trump!

    "A lawyer at The Trump Organization told The Daily Beast that legally speaking, you can't rape your spouse. “It is true,” said special counsel Michael Cohen. “You cannot rape your spouse. And there’s very clear case law.” Cohen was defending Donald Trump against allegations made by his ex-wife Ivana Trump, who once used the word “rape” to describe an incident between them in 1989. Ivana Trump later walked back her statement and said she felt “violated” by the experience. The “marital rape exemption” in New York state law ended in 1984—five years before Ivana Trump’s accusations—which means spouses could be prosecuted for marital rape."

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2015/07/27/trump-lawyer-you-can-t-rape-your-spouse.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love this comment from Es Kay on the HuffPo article:

      "In addition to legitimate rape, honest rape, forcible rape, gift-from-god rape, emergency rape, wonderful rape, easy rape, enjoyable rape, non-violent rape, lemonade rape, real rape, marital rape, incestuous rape, consensual rape as various Republicans have defined over the years (http://goprapeadvisorychart.com/),
      we now have a new one courtesy of Cohen

      "Not literal rape""

      Delete
  27. Apparently, in the early 90s Donald Trump pulled out clumps of Ivana's hair and sexually assaulted her. It's in a book.

    His attorney denies it's rape because he claims a husband cannot rape his wife.

    www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-rape_55b6df6ce4b0074ba5a60418?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:17 AM

      Well if it is in a book, then it must be true!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:39 AM

      @ 12:17 - Do you support Trump's lawyer's statement that a husband cannot rape his wife?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous8:35 AM

      Could care less about Trump, his wife, or attorney. Just like to highlight the master educators naivete and general dumbness. Seriously, thanks for the reminder of how dumb teachers can be, and that all teachers should be fact checked, as usually they are pushing nothing but biased opinion, and are usually wrong.

      http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/ivana-trump-denies-accusing-donald-trump-rape-daily-beast-120721.html?hp=l3_4

      Delete
  28. Anonymous5:41 AM

    Lost Tycoon
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3176878/Ivana-claimed-Donald-Trump-violated-violent-sex-attack-amid-argument-bald-patch-treatments.html

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous8:16 AM

    Here’s why you can’t read New York Magazine’s Cosby story right now
    Updated: The hack took place on the morning after the site's historic Cosby feature dropped
    http://www.salon.com/2015/07/27/heres_why_you_cant_read_new_york_magazines_cosby_story_right_now/

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous11:26 AM

    1979.
    18 years old.
    The Army.
    Germany, sent out to the field for the first time.
    The only woman and 1500 men.
    I was the Medic, they were Engineers.
    Alone, in the dark being watched, only I didn't know
    Vilseck, Germany after two weeks without a shower, we were allowed to go to Tent city for 2 days.
    Much Celebrating. Much Drinking. After showers the partying started.
    I was invited.
    A cute boy
    Fun
    free drinks
    more drinks
    Something wrong....
    Room spinning
    Dizzy
    can't walk
    being carried
    pass out
    wake up
    can't move
    tied up
    can't talk
    gag in mouth
    voices
    someone on me
    wet between the legs
    laughter
    another body on me
    tears
    another body
    all night
    over and over again
    how many?
    Don't know
    too many
    over and over again
    thrusting
    sweaty
    pawing
    pain
    tearing
    more laughter
    in and out of conscience
    how many?
    could be twenty
    could be a hundred
    all ranks
    all sizes
    all ages
    all penises
    all thrusting
    all sweating
    lots of pain
    smell of greasy tent
    smell of booze
    smell of tobacco
    smell of man sweat
    smell of semen
    smell of sex
    all thrusting
    all groping
    all squeezing
    all pawing
    only one, who when he saw my tears, stopped in his tracks
    But he walked out, and another came in to take his place
    over and over again
    no help
    none in sight
    all night long
    in and out of reality
    in and out of dreams
    more body's
    more men
    more thrusting
    how many hours?
    finally the sweet release of awareness
    awakening
    naked
    in the showers
    bruises and blood everywhere
    Pain
    oh my God the pain
    all consuming pain
    my clothing in a pile
    scrub
    scrub
    scrub
    scrub
    scrub
    scrub
    scrub
    scrub
    water is cold
    scrub some more
    scrub
    scrub
    scrub
    scrub
    scrub
    scrub
    scrub
    scrub
    put on uniform
    met at door, by commanding Officer
    stern words about MY behavior
    told if I talked, it would be MY fault
    Threatened with prison for "enticing"
    handed orders to be transfered
    Told to pack my bags
    Transportation waiting
    Warned again
    If you talk, you die
    or worse
    watching blindly as the trees roll by
    curling up inside of me
    hiding the pain
    hoping the pain will fade
    as the bruises do
    can't walk, can't sit, can't take a shit
    blaming myself
    Others have
    so why not me?
    Guilt
    it weighs on a mind
    remembering what was said
    silence it is my friend
    denial
    lock the pain away
    never talk they said
    never talk I did
    The pain it became my friend
    To this day, it never ends.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous11:30 AM

    Part 1
    "House Republicans rode into office on claims that President Obama and the Democratic Congress were promoting a "liberal" agenda rather than focusing on the real task at hand -- job creation. Yet the first act of the new Republican House was a symbolic repeal of health care followed by a focus on the true conservative passion: regulating the sex lives of the most vulnerable and politically powerless women. The latest proposal, which would limit benefits for rape victims unless they could show that the rape was "forcible," reintroduces a distinction that women fought for decades to eliminate -- the notion that "real rape" can only occur when a stranger jumps out of the bushes and holds a woman at gunpoint. Otherwise, the woman must necessarily be complicit in the resulting pregnancy and should be forced to bear the child."


    I'd like to sit down in a room with all 173 co-sponsors and describe to them in minute detail everything that happened the night I raped over and over again by fellow soldiers. You know, it's been thirty years, and I still get sick to my stomach, my hands still sweat and shake, thinking about it. And I'm one of the lucky ones. I wasn't physically scarred for life. I didn't end up pregnant.

    If I had, and if an abortion had been denied to me because I didn't fight hard enough, scream loud enough, risk my life adequately enough to satisfy the Cons in Congress, I can promise you something: I would've ended up killing myself if I couldn't abort that baby. They can't understand, will obviously never understand, why many women wouldn't be able to face carrying their attacker's spawn to term. Let me just put it this way: there are worse things than getting raped. One of them is being denied any chance to regain some control over your own body afterward. One of them is being forced to put your body through the further trauma of pregnancy and childbirth against your will. And at that time, in the aftermath of the worst morning of my life, I wouldn't have had the mental strength to deal with it. It was hard enough putting the shattered pieces back together without a swelling belly and constant reminders of the horror I'd gone through.

    But they don't care about a woman's welfare. Obviously not. They have some fantasy about rape, which makes them just as despicable as the men who rape. They think there's some kind of honor to be fought for, that a woman should do everything in her power to guard her virtue rather than survive, and if she doesn't, then she's a slut who deserves everything she gets.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous11:31 AM

    Part 2
    Do they think I made the wrong choice, choosing survival over a fight to the death? Do they think that making the choice to survive means signing away your right to your remaining bodily integrity? And would they still believe that were they forced to live it with me?

    They believe abortion is murder, and yet each and every one of them, should you ask, would likely tell you that killing someone in self-defense is justifiable. Let me try to explain something to them: getting rid of a clump of cells isn't murder, but let's play on their field a moment. That clump of cells that could become a human being someday is an intruder. It broke in, it wasn't invited, and it's stealing from me. It could kill me. It's certainly going to hurt me, both mentally and physically. So if you believe some homicides are justified, why do you think it's not justifiable to kill that intruder?

    They need to walk in my mind. They need to watch the months it took, feel the force of will it took, to regain function again, to not hide in the house anymore, to learn how to cope with a terrible new reality. I dropped out of school, because I wasn't capable of normal function for quite some time. It took years before I could trust people again. I still have bad moments. But I'm nearly a whole human again. I don't think I would've gotten there if I knew I'd been forced to bear my rapist's baby. And I don't have words strong enough to describe the visceral reaction I have to the idea. That would have given me a lifelong connection to my rapist. That would have been a level of trauma beyond my imagination. I know my mind well enough to know that bearing a rape baby at the age of 18 would have broken it.

    Is that the price I'm supposed to pay for being attacked? According to the Cons in Congress, it is. It's my fault, you see. I should've fought hard enough to keep from being impregnated or died in the attempt. Nothing else will do. They care more for a clump of cells than they do for a living, breathing, thinking and suffering woman.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anonymous11:31 AM

    Part 3
    But I don't think they've thought this through, and that's why I'd like them to experience what I did. Because then, you see, they could imagine what it would be like if that had been their wife, or their daughter, or some other woman they may actually care about. They may have to look at her a bit differently, and wonder if it's worth destroying her in order to force her to grow a clump of cells fertilized by a rapist. They might have to ask themselves if they'd really want her rape to be so forcible that it could kill her before they'd allow her the choice of aborting that clump of cells before she gets traumatized all over again.

    Because, you see, what the Cons in Congress are saying to women is that if we don't fight, if we don't drive our rapist to really hurt us, then we'd better be prepared to have a rape baby. If we're strong enough and wise enough and lucky enough to survive, we're to be punished. We're to have control and bodily integrity ripped away from us once more. And if we want to avoid that second traumatization, we'd best escalate the situation. There's only one way to respond to rape in their world: fight. Even though fighting could get us seriously hurt or killed.

    ReplyDelete

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