What Message Does Kavanaugh Being Confirmed Send to Women?

Today Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed by the U.S senate to the Supreme Court. The Vote was 50-48, the second closest margins for a Supreme Court confirmation in history.

I'd love to be unfazed by this. I'd love to be so independent and unbiased as a journalist that I felt nothing. I'd even love to be able to keep my opinion to myself. However, I feel that I can't run a blog about strong and inspirational women and ignore how I feel, as a woman, about Kavanaugh's confirmation.

Political views aside, it is scary for every woman to hear that Kavanaugh has been confirmed. It is scary, even if you don't believe Dr. Ford. It is scary because what we were just shown is that we are essentially powerless. It is scary that we live in an age where people mock possible sexual assault survivors for sharing their stories. To the people who argue that we don't know if she is telling the truth, you don't know if she is lying either. And regardless do you really want to be the kind of person to mock such a sensitive issue?

I knew how I was feeling when my cell phone buzzed in my pocket this afternoon, notifying me that Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed. The first thing I did was check my social media feed, scrolling through the hashtags related to the hearings, checking important political figures. I was surprised at the reactions I saw.

From those who disagreed with Kavanaugh's confirmation, I saw a lot of fear. I saw many tweets saying this was a loss for women, and for our country in general. I also saw a lot of clearly thought out statements. A lot of reasons why they felt this was wrong, supported with evidence and reason. That's not to say there still weren't emotional tweets with name calling and aggressive words, there were just less.

From those who sided with Kavanaugh I saw a lot pride. They were happy, as one would be when the person they supported got elected. But there was something malicious about it. I saw tweets with pictures of beer, saying they were drinking for Kavanaugh. I saw a lot of name calling. I saw a lot of hate for people who just got their way. Again, that's not to say that there weren't tweets with well thought out statements and reason, there were just less.

Oregon Senator, Ron Wyden took to twitter with why he voted no today. He challenged the idea that if a female were in Kavanaugh's position and acted as he did that she would not have been treated the same way Kavanaugh was.

U.S. Senate Candidate Kirsten Gillibrand wrote the following thread on twitter. Here she does something incredibly important, something that many are doing. She doesn't just explain why she was against Kavanaugh being confirmed, she acknowledges the struggles of Dr. Ford and many other women and sexual assault survivors. She encourages everyone to hold on to the pain that this has caused them, so they can organize to fight against those who voted for Kavanaugh and vote for people who share their values.

On the other side of things, Mike Pence released a statement praising the U.S. Senate for voting to confirm Kavanaugh and welcoming a new voice into the supreme court, which he believe will uphold American values. Despite saying Dr. Ford's argument was compelling, Sarah Sanders tweeted saying Trump has now made the Supreme Court 5-4 conservative, which she believes is better than what Clinton would have done.

Regardless of what you believe and where you fit into this issue, what happened today is going to change the course of history. Our world is now a place where people are more likely to blame and ridicule an alleged victim of sexual assault than the person being accused. Sexual assault accusations are no longer something taken seriously. Even if Ford was lying, I won't be surprised if this vote will silence sexual assault victims for years to come. I hope it doesn't though. I hope that instead of backing into corners like the country is telling sexual assault victims and women in general to do, I hope that this encourages them to be louder. I hope that this encourages them to yell until they are heard. Whatever your feelings are, I hope that you get out and vote on November 6th.