A decade later, Steinem seemed to have learned her lesson, at least when a conservativejudge, Clarence Thomas, was about to be appointed to the Supreme Court. She stood with Anita Hill. But she did not stand with me—nor did she stand with Paula Jones, Juanita Broderick, or Monica Lewinsky (who alleged no crimes) when it came to Bill Clinton’s sexual predation and peccadillos. In fact, Lewinsky was mocked by some leading feminists, “mean girl style.” She has written about this in Vanity Fair.
Phyllis Chesler (Oct 16) "Just yesterday, Hillary Clinton insisted that Bill did not abuse any power when he allowed his intern, Monica Lewinsky, who was half his age, to sexually service him. Hillary’S words are beyond belief and beyond embarrassing.
"As someone who has studied sexual violence against women for nearly fifty years, I am deeply troubled to see it used for partisan political gain. Doing so inflames anti-feminists but more important, it cheapens the momentum of the #MeToo movement and, I fear, will make it harder, not easier, for the next rape victim to successfully press charges.
"My latest book, A Politically Incorrect Feminist, deals with this issue in depth and at length. In my day, most women in America were routinely sexually harassed as well as sexually assaulted. We were taught to blame ourselves. We also understood that if we complained we would not be believed or we’d be further shamed. We learned how to tolerate hostile workplaces, hostile public spaces, and hostile home environments. Many of us became tough survivors. Some, especially incest victims, fell through all the cracks.
"All this was forgotten or, rather, this was knowledge that was systematically disappeared. By the mid-1980s, if not sooner, our best and most radical feminist work was no longer being taught in universities. The #MeToo movement had to reinvent the feminist wheel.
"Being raped is something that a woman never forgets—especially if she’s a feminist leader because she understands that rape is an act of violent domination meant to humiliate and traumatize a woman. Being sexually harassed and raped by your employer—when you need to keep the job—consigns a woman to a special circle of hell.
"A rape victim bears up under the weight of it, absorbs the blow, and tries to move on. Some women cannot do it; they break down and break apart. But even someone who can numbly, dumbly move on may still be dimly and occasionally haunted by shame or sorrow forever after.
"A child who is raped by her father can also move on, but an incest victim never forgets and never forgives the mother who did not protect her, sold her for rent money, refused to believe her, and ejected her from the family when her protests became too public. Most incest victims do not rage against their rapist fathers as much as against their mother’s intimate betrayal."
"Such traumatic events are difficult to discuss. The victim herself is reluctant to re-enter the memory swamp. It can literally make her sick. The eyes of non-therapists and non-feminists glaze over. Feminist therapists are trained to listen—but good therapy takes a long time, and the details really matter—they’re all that matter.
"In an era in which women who allege sexual violence are supposed to be believed—I, too write about being sexually harassed and raped by my boss at the United Nations. What haunts me, is that two icons of American feminism, Robin Morgan and Gloria Steinem, (who were also my friends and allies), covered up my rape, made common cause with my rapist, and ostracized me for whistleblowing.
"Yes, they did. it gives me no pleasure to expose them—and I do not think that what they did means that feminism is all wrong. Morgan was the real offender, the quintessential opportunist. Steinem merely covered for her. By so doing, Ms. Magazine gained a lock-hold on the “territory” of international feminism." . . . Continue reading . . .