After the Senate hearings for the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump reflected that it was, "a scary time for young men in America" because they should be afraid of being accused of something they never did.
Many viral posts have arisen since the news of the allegations against Kavanaugh showing support for his most prominent accuser, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, and showing a long list of what girls do on a daily basis to protect themselves from being sexually assaulted, versus a very short list of what men do to protect themselves.
While I agree that not all men are dangerous, I think we all see how unsafe and broken our nation is.
Personally, when I traveled to Morocco alone, I was told it was unbelievably dangerous and I would be kidnapped and raped, but I cannot even go to Walmart in my small hometown because I hear about men stalking women in the store almost weekly.
It is alarming that I felt safer in Morocco by myself than in our local Walmart.
I remember just four years ago I could go to Walmart and feel completely fine and now I never go without my parents or a taser. When I leave my car, I have to look around constantly to see if anyone is following me, check under my car before I load groceries into it, and drive in circles around the parking lot to make sure I will not be followed. I cannot get groceries off campus unless I have at least one guy with me because it simply isn't safe.
It is sad because I know I am one of the millions of women who deal with this fear daily.
Lynzy Lab wrote a song responding to Trump's idea that it is a scary time for men and encourages everyone to vote so that we can change our fates and our futures. Her lyrics mention a short list of things women CAN'T do and shows how this compares to the "scary" things men are facing.
The first line of her song says, "I can't walk to my car late at night while on the phone." I know my family has drilled in me not to be on my phone when walking anywhere alone whether it is crowded or during the day, or anything. We are taught it is not safe to talk on the phone while walking from our car to a store because some man might be following us and we wouldn't be paying attention.
"I can't wear a miniskirt if it's the only one I own" is another lyric that touches on a topic that absolutely infuriates me.
Men and women alike think that because a girl wears scandalous clothing that she is asking to be assaulted or deserves to be assaulted, which is absolutely barbaric. Women have every right to wear whatever they want to because it is their body and they have every right to want to look sexy and want sex.
No woman who wears a short skirt is asking to be assaulted or deserves to be raped. Personally, I wear long sleeves and jeans in the summer heat and I am still harassed when walking to class or getting food. I would love for a man to tell me how he has had to dress for his own safety.
Before I left for university, my gifts consisted of ways to protect myself such as alarms, a taser, and my stepdad gave me a lesson on self-defense. He taught me that "I can't ever leave my drink unattended" even if it isn't alcohol. Girls are taught all of these ways to protect themselves before they leave for universities and honestly I don't know why parents don't tell their sons not to drug and rape women.
Maybe they assume they shouldn't have to teach their sons not to rape girls, which I agree with completely. We shouldn't have to tell boys not to do these things but unfortunately, I think our society is reaching a point where we need to. Even in health classes, the curriculum mentions ways women need to protect themselves rather than telling men not to drug women in the first place.
Lynzy says "I can't have another drink even if I want more" which is so sad.
If a woman was drunk when she was assaulted, she is automatically assumed to be lying about her assault. The Stanford rape victim said it best when she said "Alcohol is not an excuse. Is it a factor? Yes. But alcohol was not the one who stripped me, fingered me, had my head dragging against the ground, with me almost fully naked. Having too much to drink was an amateur mistake that I admit to, but it is not criminal."
Alcohol is not the perpetrator in this situation and I don't think alcohol should discredit the man or woman's testimony in the event of a trial. Women should not have to live in fear of being taken advantage of when drinking or when sober, we should all be free to enjoy ourselves.
I wouldn't be surprised if this video encourages other women to share long lists of things they can't do without being in fear. I hope something like this does start so that we as women can see that we aren't the only ones with these fears and so that guys can see how we feel.
I hope for future generations that we learn from this.
But sure, it's a scary time for men because their reputations are so important and any woman who is brave enough to come forth about her sexual assault is out to ruin a man's future. Forget the trauma this woman has been through and the pain she is facing reliving every last detail in front of an entire courtroom because her future is going to be rainbows and butterflies while the perpetrator is doomed to face the consequences he deserved.
If our nation's leaders continue to discredit any sexual assault allegation and mock the #MeToo movement, why should we expect anyone to believe any sexual assault allegation?
So, no President Trump, men do not need to fear that women will come forth and accuse them of something they haven't done. Only 2% of all sexual assault allegations that women actually come forth with are false.
Men have no reason to fear an unfair outcome. The only thing they have to fear is the fact that they might have to face consequences — oh no!
It is not a scary time for men and if we can improve the way our judicial systems handle sexual assault cases, neither men or women would have to live in fear.
