Tag: Jill Filipovic

In the wake of Sen. Martha McSally’s (R-AZ) brave testimony of her sexual assault during her tenure in the military, the left is using ideology to invalidate McSally’s heartbreaking deposition. "So, like you, I also am a military sexual assault survivor, but unlike so many brave survivors, I didn’t report being sexually assaulted," she said. This is a sign of progress. — Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) March 6, 2019 This abhorrent rhetoric from the left toward Conservative women is not the first of its kind, and certainly will not be the last. Democrats and Progressives alike claim to champion allwomen, with the #metoo movement, and consistently push the narrative that each and every woman who comes forward should be believed no matter what; the left only applies this standard to their own. These harsh mischaracterizations of Conservatives and propping up of the narrative that due process is anti-woman dually de-incentivizes women from coming forward. Disagree as Republicans and Democrats may on how best to handle allegations, especially surrounding due process, the use of ideology as a factor must stop. Regardless of political affiliation, coming forward after a traumatic sexual experience is a difficult, painful thing to do. Filipovic and other left-wing pundits are well aware of this, but still take no issue with invalidating and belittling Republican women who so bravely come forward, on a purely ideological basis. If Democrats want to have a concrete, candid discussion on policy that might help alleviate the growing issue of sexual assault and misconduct, Republican women, and men, would undoubtedly come to the table.

During a Senate hearing this afternoon, Republican senator Martha McSally (Ariz.) revealed publicly for the first time that she had been “preyed upon and then raped” by a superior officer when she was serving in the Air Force. Jill Filipovic, a progressive attorney and feminist writer, decided that McSally’s heartrending story would make a good launching pad for reminding her Twitter followers that conservatives don’t care about preventing violence against women: This is complicated by the fact that McSally is a member of the exact movement that is hostile to sincere and holistic efforts to combat violence against women, and that folds misogyny into much of its politics. But feminists do want all women to benefit from our gains. — Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) March 6, 2019 Filipovic went on to note that McSally supported the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, as if this is sufficient evidence that she doesn’t care about eliminating assault, and the entire thread implied that the senator is complicit in a culture of violence against women merely because she’s a conservative. This moment shouldn’t be “complicated” at all, nor should it be about left-wing politics, the conservative movement, or third-wave feminism. Had a conservative commentator attempted to use a Democratic politician’s account of sexual assault to make a political argument, surely feminist pundits would have been outraged. Filipovic pointed out, after I criticized her commentary, that she had called McSally “brave” and said that this is “an important moment.” But those qualifications in no way negate or alleviate the fact that she used someone else’s vulnerability to hammer home a political point, and an inaccurate one at that. “I think McSally is incredibly brave for speaking out,” she reiterated. McSally said that she observed “weaknesses in the processes involving sexual assault prevention, investigation, and adjudication” while in the military and that her experience led her to “make recommendations to Air Force leaders, shaped my approach as a commander, and informed my advocacy for change while I remained in the military and since I have been in Congress.” Debate over how particular policies and broader political optics affect the incidence of sexual assault is all well and good, though I’m highly wary of the third-wave feminist tendency to blame the conservative movement for violence against women without any effort to substantiate those claims. McSally’s story of having been raped is not an appropriate vehicle for the airing of those grievances.