Happy Sunday everyone! I hope we are all ready to go back to class tomorrow, I know I’m not. Anyway, what better way to end a weekend than on a Feminist Note. Now let’s all have a chat about the “Birds and the bees.” 😉
“I think it’s time I have the birds and the bees talk with your brother,” this was what my grandma said to me on one of our phone conversations this past week. Imagine my surprise when my grandma says she has to have a conversation with my 17-year old brother about the “birds and bees”. I say to her, “Don’t you think it’s a little late for this chat with him? And shouldn’t he have had it with our dad by now?” My grandma wasn’t talking about that type of chat however. She was referring to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and her case against the Supreme Court Nominee, Brett M. Kavanaugh.
Pictured above is a snippet of an article that published shortly after the case summarizing the two opposing sides of the debate. Now, I’m not going to give any background this time because Everyone should know about this case because it deals directly with all of us and who we want representing our judicial system. My grandma brought this to my attention because apparently my brother was saying things such as, “why is she coming out now after all of this time? Oh, she’s just after the money and the fame.” I was shocked to find my brother having these types of opinions and I’m more shocked that he had the nerve to vocalize them in my house.
What shocked me the most was my grandma’s response.”In those days men did whatever they wanted with us and most of the time when and if we spoke up we were the ones that were asking for it and we were the ones to get in trouble.” What started off as a normal grandma-granddaughter chat got us on a much bigger discussion and I’m bringing it to you all on this lovely Sunday evening.
Why is Christine Blasey Ford, a survivor, receiving the email hacking, the death threats and the back lash? When all she did was speak her truth. And why are all of these men that did not know Brett Kavanaugh when he was 17-years old coming forward to speak on the behalf of him? As if this is just a minor accusation and all he should get is a slap on the wrist? I am sick and tired and I know I’m not the only one.
“If you don’t want men to be dragged down by decades-old accusations of rape, then you need to crack down on minutes-old accusations of rape as they happen.” https://t.co/CzrasksF8v
— N. K. Jemisin (@nkjemisin) September 18, 2018
Pictured above is a tweet I came across, you all will learn soon how much I, @FerociousFem, love twitter. It’s my daily source of gossip and I’M HERE FOR IT. But this twitter user breaks it down to the issue at hand, let us support survivors in upholding their truth, in the moment and let’s have the “birds and the bees” talk with all of our boys and girls! I think it is so important that we continue to follow this case, I know I will. Oh, and y’all wish my brother good luck cause if my grandma doesn’t get some sense into him, I’m coming after him.
ShoutOut! James Madison University 
That must have been an eye-opening conversation! It’s crazy to see how generations have such different perspectives and how our lives are entirely different than our grandparents. I think our education system needs to include more than “abstinence only” practices. The conversation your grandmother is insinuating with your brother is something that needs to happen with younger generations of men across the board. Thank you for giving us your opinion on this…It is such an important issue!
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It was an eye-opening conversation! One I never expected to have with her on a random phone all either! I completely agree the education system needs to focus earlier for example the Rwandan practices of teaching boys early needs to be a trend here in America because “Abstinence only” doesn’t work when it still happens and everyone is wondering why. Thank you again for your support!!
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!!! This! This story has been blowing up lately. I’ve been furious over this case and, quite frankly, a bit triggered. This has all been very very exaughsting to dit through without validation, but thank you for bringing my perspective back to life. Assault cases are frustrating, especially to the survivior. The stigma and culture behind this toxic mindset of being deserving of rape and assault is especially hard to hear. Learned some new info with this post; LOVED it !!!
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COMPLETELY EXHAUSTING! I feel I need to add a part two to this post because of everything that is still going on in the media and all of the added issues that have risen while the situation continues in the media. Stay tuned!!! LOL, but thank you again for your support!!!
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This is SOO important! I think we all need to support survivors no matter how long it takes for them to come forward. It is so frustrating when people say that Dr.Ford is doing it for the fame and money but have people thought maybe she’s doing it for herself so that she can try to enjoy the rest of her life without this huge weight on her shoulder? Coming forward for survivors is a huge step in the healing process and I think everyone needs to be more understanding about it.
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Yes! It was extremely frustrating while I was initially researching to see people say she is possibly traumatized and won’t remember the details correctly or taking Kavanaugh’s defense that they don’t care if he did it and that they will continue to support him. I just don’t understand and it is frustrating that this was not a simple open and shut case. It’s also so frustrating that we are dealing with a situation similar to Anita Hill’s and this is DECADES later. I’m tired. Nevertheless, thank you so much for your support!!!
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With all the latest news on the Kava-NAH case (I say Kava-NAH because, in my opinion, he is beyond canceled) I feel as though “the birds and the bees” talk needs to transgress to focus on educating boys as well as girls about not succumbing to traditional gender stereotypes and gender norms but instead progress into being more hyperaware of their sexuality and that men do NOT have the right to control women. They will get slapped. By me.
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This is very important. I completely agree. Survivors deserve to be heard, and even more importantly, they deserve to FEEL like they can speak about it. The world today makes survivors feel ashamed for speaking out – as we can clearly see in the Kavanaugh case.
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Wow, go grandma! My grandma has also been following this and has been glued to the news to keep up to date. She definitely has the same outlook on this and is disappointed with the way things are going. Even if her memory is not perfect, there is nothing wrong with going through an investigation and validating what she has said, rather than assuming anything. We NEED to support survivors and stop turning assaulters into the victims.
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I really liked this post! I think this is something that is extremely important and needs to be talked about more often. I think part of the reason why people make comments like “she’s just after the money and the fame” is because they are not educated on these issues. Having conversations about these topics can be really helpful by bringing attention to this issue and hopefully preventing things like this from happening in the future.
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