Unless you live under a rock you know about Brock Turner by now. My news feed has been blowing up with a nation emotionally triggered by a disgusting act of the legal system. I have so many thoughts, so many angles to take with this, I am also overwhelmed. I wasn’t sure I should say anything at all until this evening when I checked the comments of a photo that I shared to find a troll saying something along the lines that, “at least she ain’t a nasty hairy bitch, yet, why don’t you show me your jugs without the baby.” I decided I would go ahead and share one small sliver of a point that I’d like to express.
Brock Turner, a swimmer for Stanford, was convicted of 3 counts of felony sexual assault (which carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years) when he raped an intoxicated and unconscious woman behind a dumpster after a frat party. He was sentenced to 6 months jail time by Judge Persky who stated “a prison sentence would have a severe impact on him.” Brock’s father said this is a “steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action.”
Women are shown on a daily basis that our bodies do not belong to us. Whether it’s rape, murder, domestic abuse, workplace harassment or sexual harassment on-line or on the streets. Whether it’s “hey baby,” being shouted from a car going by, being cornered in a bar or leered at in line at the grocery store; we get the message loud and clear from the world around us that we belong to men.
Whether it’s being told to cover while breastfeeding, told that we are not good moms for choosing not to breastfeed, told that our bodies don’t work, told that we are not capable of making our own decisions, told that we need intervention from a male-dominated medical field at every step of parenting; misogyny is rained down on us from the moment we are born to the moment we die.
We are constantly faced with the message that our bodies are for the pleasure of men, that our bodies are only on loan and can be taken back at any time from any man who so chooses, that our breasts and vaginas and every other part are possessions of someone other than ourselves. At every step through life we are judged, picked apart, harassed, bullied, hated and worse, much worse.
Like today. We once again got a clear sign from the patriarchy that our bodies are not ours, that this world is not ours. I am so flipping fucking mad I can’t even see straight. I have never been raped, but I can only imagine how triggered sexual assault victims must be today. My heart is with all of you.
Here is the letter that the victim read to her attacker. It is an absolute necessary read. I think this should become a part of high school curriculum. And please sign the petition to recall this pathetic judge.
