Matt Thompson over at The Atlantic, examining the testimonies by Dr. Ford and Justice Kavanaugh, reminds us that Thursday’s Senate hearing—and, most likely, the supplemental FBI investigation just beginning—“was” and are “Never About Finding the Truth.” His examination of men’s power to control women’s narratives of sexual assault is worth reading for its reminder that men and women perceive the same facts differently and that possession of power’s levers to define how any reality is framed often weigh more than facts in decision-making. What seems missing from Thompson’s men vs. women construction of power, however, is how power’s unequal distribution among one gender—in this case, men—depends on how men mistreat women.
As you begin reading this article, it's necessary to remember key facts from Ford's and Kavanaugh's testimonies. Christine Blasey Ford reported she is haunted by Brett Kavanaugh's and Mark Judge's “uproarious” laughter—“enjoying themselves at my expense," she said—and Judge's "couple of" attempts to jump on top of Kavanaugh during his assault. I've heard it asked, "Why would Judge do that?" and the answer is in Kavanaugh's yearbook: Devil's Triangle. In testimony, Kavanaugh said those words name a "drinking game," and since he and Judge had to drink in order to play it, a lawyer could argue he was telling the truth. However, setting up to play Monopoly or Risk is not really PLAYING Monopoly or Risk, so Kavanaugh is not really as smart or precious as he thinks he is. With 15-year-old Christine Blasey, someone they knew because she'd been seeing their friend "Squi" socially, they saw an opportunity to play Devil's Triangle, two guys having sex with one girl. And I'm quite sure part of the "fun" that made them laugh gleefully during the assault was thinking about telling Squi, had they succeeded, all about their conquest afterward.
Power over other men's women means power over these men, too. Men who are women's allies need to realize that their lives are at stake in Kavanaugh’s disqualification from the Supreme Court as much as ours are.