Maxine is righteously angry about the election of Schwarzenegger to office, in spite of the many unresolved claims of sexual and physical abuse and harassment by the governor-elect.

One of our regular commentors, Dave, has many doubts about the claims; the timing of the claims makes them suspect in his eyes.

To me this all sounds so very familiar – I’m sure many other women have the same feeling of déjà vu.  As I said at Maxine’s blog:

I remember having this very argument with my father back when Clarence Thomas was being confirmed.  My father asked me how Anita Hill could be seen as truthful if she'd never bothered to press charges years before.  I had a difficult time explaining to him why it is a black woman would find it challenging to buck a system set against her and come out about Thomas, to what would be the permanent demise of the career she'd worked so hard to gain, with no assurance of a positive outcome.  Why would she come out until the stakes were so compellingly high, indeed.

Many female rape and assault victims go into denial in an effort to deal with the damage to their psyches, as well as wanting to avoid further stigmatization and additional psychic damage.  It may be that in the short California campaign that victims held onto their denial as long as they could, hoping against hope that that they would not have to come forward and subject themselves to further assault on their persons and reputations. The stakes simply became too high.  And perhaps until the stakes became so high, no one listened to them, completely discounted them.

I'll give an example that I'm familiar with.  A close friend of mine was slapped in an elevator by an executive who disliked her; there were no witnesses.  She called me to discuss what she called sexual harrassment via hostile work environment; she'd not called anyone else, still being in shock.  I had to beg her to see this as ASSAULT, not just hostile work environment.  In the end, the executive was reprimanded by management and PROMOTED back to his home country.  She was not given any ameliorating treatment of any kind.  This happened at a Fortune 100 company, in a department that should have known better.

That's why women don't bother to come forward.  And that's why Schwarzenegger, in spite of what appears to be a long history of abuse of women, has managed to become the highest ranking officer of the fifth largest economy in the world.

I understand Dave's point, but drug charges are NOT physical and sexual assault against persons who are treated like second class citizens.  Look at the countless numbers of men who've managed to become civic figures/leaders, in spite of past charges.  The statistics just don't support ALL of Schwarzeneggers' accusers being liars.  I'll bet there are many, many more who didn't come forward.

I don’t know about the claims about Schwarzenegger’s Nazi sympathies; I didn’t do enough research into their origins, although a transcripted statement conveying admiration for Hitler and a toast to Waldheim don’t look very good at all.  Perhaps it’s that I don’t have any experience in this area, don’t recognize the authentic truth when it presents itself.  Unfortunately, I’ve seen more than enough examples of sexual and physical abuse and harassment to feel a certain familiar ring, a recognition of an authentic concern in the claims that so many women made about Schwarzenegger. 

After the recent implosion of so many powerful men who’ve given lip service to us from positions of leadership, it’s not unwarranted to be suspicious.  There are so many women who’ve tried desperately to call attention to wrong doing, who were discounted out of hand, and who only after the fact were found to be in the right.  FBI agent Rowley who was concerned about Moussaoui, whistleblower Sherron Watkins at Enron are just two examples of women who were initially discounted and later proven right; it happens far more frequently than these two examples.

This society simply has a problem with listening to women AND with promoting men in spite of legitimate concerns about past performance.

A president who’s past business and personal life have been highly checkered -- including going AWOL in the service, having DUI’s on his record and admitted illegal drug usage – should serve as example enough that the American public gives far too much credit to the wrong parties.

9:46:21 PM    comment []