There is no downside to the #MeToo movement

Posted 5/22/19

This letter is in response to Mr. Epstein’s letter about the downside of the #MeToo movement. I wish that in his moment of indignancy he had remained silent and introspective. I wish he had …

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There is no downside to the #MeToo movement

Posted

This letter is in response to Mr. Epstein’s letter about the downside of the #MeToo movement. I wish that in his moment of indignancy he had remained silent and introspective. I wish he had taken the time to truly hear our message of, “Excuse us, but a lot of what women endure is pretty awful.” The very nature of his letter is exactly what we are so frustrated about. “I hear that you are trying to say something but there’s a problem with it and here’s why.”

We are raped. “Yes, but what about this young man’s future?”

We are harassed. “Yes, but how is a man supposed to ask a woman out anymore?”

We are ignored. “Yes, but perhaps you should go grab a coffee while we talk.”

We are objectified. “Yes, but this is just the way men talk in the locker room.”

We want the same basic rights to make decisions about our body as men. “Yes, but we know what’s best.” 

So, Mr. Epstein, instead of sitting down at your desk, cracking your knuckles and writing a letter about how the movement is affecting you, perhaps that time would have been better spent thinking about how, for eons, women have been affected by degradation—and what you could do to better support us now. We need the good guys like you on our side.

There is no downside to the #MeToo movement.

We are not more distrustful. We do not “dislike” men more.

We have always feared walking dark streets alone.

We have always disliked unwanted touching, unprovoked advances.

But, for the first time, we are wiping off the polite smile, and we are speaking up about it, regardless of the consequences.

Christine Davis

Lake Como, PA

opinion, letters to the editor

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