VERNON — Is there proof? No - not unless Mark Judge comes forward, and that seems highly unlikely.
Why can men come forward after 35 years to testify about sexual abuse by priests and be believed, but when a woman comes forward with her story, the first question is, “What's her motive?”
Did we ever stop to think that maybe her motive was to be a good citizen? To offer another view of the character of a man who will be put into a position of incredible power? Have we come so far from considering the common good to believe that?
I still remember walking home from school one day when I was about 16 years old. I'd gotten caught in a downpour and got soaking wet. When I passed the local fire station, several youngish firemen (not “firefighters,” as there were no women on fire forces in the mid-1960s) started catcalling, making kissing sounds, and thrusting their pelvises.
I was on the other side of the street, but I was scared, and I was furious.
I looked at them with a scowl on my face and just kept walking, but I still felt shamed.
I don't think I've ever told that story to anyone before. If I'd been assaulted, as some of my friends were when they were young, would I be able to say so?
Now, perhaps. Then, not at all. Blaming the victim was the method of the day.
A Facebook friend posted something saying all men now needed to be afraid because any woman could pop up and say she'd been assaulted by her husband, brother, or so on.
I call BS. Not so. I know my husband wasn't raised that way. I know my brother wasn't raised that way. And I know for damned sure my son wasn't raised that way.