ASK Musings

CN: sexual assault, because of course.

US Supreme Court Nominee is an Attempted Rapist

“As a teacher now , I truly believe in the power of the growth mindset. Rather than telling a student “you are smart” or “you are good,” you should praise the effort a student invests. My education at Prep had a different tenor however. Teachers offered intermittent, lukewarm constructive feedback on our behavior, but the general message of the school was that we were already fully actualized as “Men for Others.” Largely by virtue of our parents’ being able to pay the admission ticket, we were Prep students. We were the best. We hated our rival schools and looked down on everyone else.” I Went To Kavanaugh’s Alma Mater, Georgetown Prep, And It Was A Case Study In Misogyny (by Will Menarndt for The Establishment)

“At the same time, though, it’s important to keep in mind that whatever any inquiry finds about that one incident won’t change the basic reality: Disqualifying information about the Supreme Court nominee is already hiding in plain sight. In such plain sight, in fact, that it takes a willful blindness not to notice it, a calculated effort to look the other way from blatantly deceptive statements dating back more than a decade and continuing through Thursday.” The lies that senators must tell themselves to support Brett Kavanaugh (Boston Globe Editorial)

“There was, in this performance, not even a hint of the sagacity one expects from a potential Supreme Court Justice. More than presenting a convincing rebuttal to Ford’s extremely credible account, Kavanaugh—and Hatch, and Lindsey Graham—seemed to be exterminating, live, for an American audience, the faint notion that a massively successful white man could have his birthright questioned or his character held to the most basic type of scrutiny. In the course of Kavanaugh’s hearing, Mitchell basically disappeared. Republican senators apologized to the judge, incessantly, for what he had suffered. There was talk of his reputation being torpedoed and his life being destroyed. This is the nature of the conspiracy against white male power—the forces threatening it will always somehow be thwarted at the last minute.” The Ford – Kavanaugh Hearing Will Be Remembered as a Grotesque Display of Patriarchal Resentment (by Doreen St. Félix for The New Yorker)

“In both these accounts, Kavanaugh is laughing as he does something to a woman that disturbs or traumatizes her. Ford wrote in her letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, “Kavanaugh was on top of me while laughing with [Mark] Judge, who periodically jumped onto Kavanaugh. They both laughed as Kavanaugh tried to disrobe me in their highly inebriated state. With Kavanaugh’s hand over my mouth, I feared he may inadvertently kill me.” “Brett was laughing,” Ramirez says in her account to the New Yorker. “I can still see his face, and his hips coming forward, like when you pull up your pants.” She recalled another male student shouting about the incident. “Somebody yelled down the hall, ‘Brett Kavanaugh just put his penis in Debbie’s face,’ ” she said.” Brett Kavanaugh and the Cruelty of Male Bonding (by Lili Loofbourow for Slate)

Women in Sport

“This announcement gives our home-based players an opportunity to train more, but also to rest more,” head coach Kerr told BBC Scotland. “Some of them have to juggle full-time or part-time employment, or full-time education, as well as training with their clubs four or five times a week, on top of a strength and conditioning program as well. “It is a big ask for those players who are not in a professional environment, and we need to make sure we support them as best we can. It is a huge weight off my shoulders and I know it is the same for the players.” Scotland Women: All players to be full-time up to World Cup with Government funding (for BBC)

Sexual Assault and Harassment

“The bulk of Der Spiegel’s latest story—in which they interview Mayorga, her family, her friend who accompanied Mayorga up to Ronaldo’s Palms Place Hotel penthouse that night, and her lawyer—involves Mayorga explaining in her own words what happened on the night she says Ronaldo raped her, and how that incident has affected her life since. Mayorga’s attorney also mentions some potentially damning documents in his possession, which purport to show Ronaldo himself admitting that Mayorga did indeed vocally and repeatedly deny her consent during the sexual act.” Woman Who Accused Cristiano Ronaldo Of Rape Tells Her Full Story, Seeks To Void Settlement (by Billy Haisley for Deadspin)

“One thornier aspect of #MeToo consciousness-raising involves convincing not just men but other women that they might not know everything about a man they know well—that nearness does not guarantee transparency, that a man who is evil during the day might be patient when he returns home at night, that the powerful can apply a vile and discriminating calculus to who will suffer abuse and who will not. (This is what is so useless about the statement signed by sixty-five female acquaintances of the embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, calling him a “good person.”)” Julie Chen-Moonves and the Meaning of a Wife’s Loyalty (by Doreen St. Félix for The New Yorker)

Criminal Punishment System

“Judges in Seattle have decided to quash convictions for marijuana possession for anyone prosecuted in the city between 1996 and 2010. City Attorney Pete Homes asked the court to take the step “to right the injustices of a drug war that has primarily targeted people of colour.” Possession of marijuana became legal in the state of Washington in 2012. Officials estimate that more than 542 people could have their convictions dismissed by mid-November.” Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions (for BBC)

Disability Erasure

“Noting the attention the vote to remove Keller and others from the curriculum received, Lawrence Carter-Long, director of communications at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, tweeted: “ON THE BRIGHT SIDE: #HelenKeller is now trending. Maybe people will be compelled to do a little research and discover *why* she was on the FBI’s watch list and what a pioneering pit bull lovin’ whisky drinkin’ Socialist bad ass she actually was.”” Now Is an Especially Terrible Time for Texas to Stop Teaching Kids About Helen Keller (by Robyn Powell for Rewire)

Native Women

“The Associated Press reported earlier this month that in 2017 the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database contained 633 cases of missing Native women. Women’s advocates and tribal leaders, however, maintain that the number of missing as well as murdered Native women are undercounted due to confusing issues over which jurisdiction—state, federal, or tribal—has authority in the investigations. Tribal law enforcement has limited access to NCIC data, compounding the inaccuracy of information.” Advocates Urge Better Reporting on Violence Against Native Women as Federal Fixes Stall (by Mary Annette Pember for Rewire)

Pop Culture

“It is not lazy writing, it is wholeheartedly evidence of how deeply ingrained racism and sexism is in our society. So pervasive is it in our everyday that having a writer or team that is not representative of those you are telling a story about will never work. It will not be truly representative until you allow writers of colour and female writers tell their stories, paint the picture of the layers that create the person they are, the experience of living their lives.” Bodyguard shows drama cannot be truly subversive unless those creating it are (by Tashmia Owen for Media Diversified)

Games Industry

“If you’ve never experienced burnout, it’s hard to convey just how soul sucking it is. Nothing I did made me happy. I was exhausted and irritable all the time. I wanted to sleep all day every day, but even when I did that, it didn’t get better. This is what I felt like for a year. An entire year of going into work and browsing the web because I couldn’t focus. I had been programming for 10 years at that point and loved it to bits, but I couldn’t find the energy to do it. It just wouldn’t come to me. The worst part was, this wasn’t even my first experience with burnout in the games industry – I had been taught to do this.” The Games Industry is Toxic (by Austin Kelmore)