Week 2: Gabriela Aguilar Castillo

The text I chose was of Caitlin Flanagan’s essay, “I Believe Her,” and it starts off with an inscription in her 12^th-grade yearbook, not something you think much of until you continue reading and you are then appalled as to what you have just read. “I Believe Her,” is about the trauma she endured during her teen years, describing her sexual assault that led to the escalation of her depression. In the article, The Atlantic, she approaches the subject of Brett Kavanaugh’s sexual assault allegations and her standpoint is confirmed that there are women out there who have been through similar assaults and it shouldn’t be easily dismissed or hidden.

The central issue raised by this text is society does not normalize women coming forward reporting sexual assaults. Ergo, there is a stigma around sexual assault survivors coming forward and have to “prove” what they experienced or else their doubt surrounding their report, and this requires the victim to relive their trauma in order to retell their assault. However, it is a long road to recovery, as survivors like Caitlin Flanagan feel guilty, as they don’t want to ruin another person’s life or the question if they could have prevented it but in reality, it isn’t their fault. The fact that these individuals can go on and live their lives as if they did nothing wrong, such as Brett, confirms how society allows the people accused to stay in positions of high influential power. It’s been normalized in a society that it’s okay for men to do that and still maintain a high position of power, understanding that it is a societal issue.

“I Believe Her” is a self-explanatory title, connecting to the political standpoint of Caitlin Flanagan on Ford’s story, accusing Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault upon her at a young age. Caitlin Flanagan as a #MeToo supporter, voiced her teen sexual assault that argues Brett Kavanaugh’s position as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S. Proving that a man, Brett Kavanaugh, sexually assaulted, Christine Ford, and was nominated during this time and was able to still become Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and politically unjust.

A quote from, “I Believe Her,’ that stood out was, “The idea was that anything bad that happened was the girl’s fault. She had agreed to go off in a car with a boy alone; she was taking her chances.” These two lines stood out to me because in society, it is always the women’s fault for wearing either “revealing” clothing, if we drink, walking by ourselves, or “you shouldn’t have been walking in that bad neighborhood at that time”, and etc., but yet you never hear someone say, “It wasn’t YOUR fault.” It is very significant to me because it is unfair that women are blamed for another person’s actions, and #MeToo is a very relevant movement that more should be aware of because women are sexually assaulted every day and yet are silenced when they come forward.

I chose, “I Believe Her” because the title itself is impactful, women need to support women. There shouldn’t be a stigma around sexual assault victims and their traumatizing accounts. This issue is important to me because I read and hear sexual assault stories so much on the news and it just shocks me as to how so many women are afraid of coming forward simply because of the guilt or circumstance where one may be blamed for the occurrence when it was not their fault.