Tyranny Continues

Congratulations America! Last week, you had the midterm elections, where a few very important things happened. First, the Democrats took back the House of Representatives, which means Republicans will now have the House keeping them in check. Second, a record number of women were elected into Congress, which also includes some of the first Muslim women, Native American women, some which are also LGBTQ+. Essentially, lots of very important firsts, which will ultimately end up in an important shift of representation in politics. However, despite this monumental change, we must not stop having the conversations we’ve been having, especially in terms of the sexual assault allegations against men in positions of power.

Likely, you’d have noticed that there was a lot of discussion about the one year anniversary of the #MeToo movement a couple of weeks ago. Many shared their stories about how things have changed since then, or maybe how they haven’t. One of the big conversations going on was the ironic timing of Brett Kavanaugh being confirmed to court as an Associate Justice after a court hearing and investigation of sexual abuse allegations. This perhaps is the biggest example of how much more work the #MeToo and any feminist movement has in the future, especially in changing the rhetoric when we discuss these issues.

On top of that, there is a long way to go in making meaningful changes to the system itself, particularly the court system, in the way sexual allegations are handled. Because we are still at such an early stage of this process, the fact that Dr. Ford’s testimony was not enough to derail Kavanaugh’s confirmation should not have come as a huge surprise, especially if we think about the way sexual assault cases are handled in the US when powerful white men are accused (let’s not forget the Brock Turner case). Even though these are conversations that are being spoken about far more publicly since the #MeToo movement began, we must remember that these issues are reminiscent of the tyranny of Man that has been evident for a millennium, and even written about by philosophers in the 16th and 17th century.

This tyranny of men had long ago seeped into custom, and continues to persist today. Let’s think about the way society talked about Serena Williams when she yelled at the umpire versus the way society reacted to Kavanaugh’s yelling and irrationality at his hearing. There was a nasty cartoon drawn of Williams, and she had received a lot of backlash for her reaction at a tennis match. Yet Kavanaugh, who was in court defending himself against sexual assault allegations before being confirmed to the supreme court of the united states, was barely reprimanded for the way he reacted during this hearing—in fact, people felt bad for him and attacked Dr. Ford.

This is a fundamental difference in the way society views anger in men versus in women. More importantly, it highlight’s the white man’s power and his privilege in our current social and political system. White men are allowed to be angry, that’s not a trait that they get chastised for, it is part of being a man and there is nothing wrong with that. This irrational acceptance of the white man’s anger is part of the tyranny of man.

In the 16th century, Moderata Fonte highlighted man’s tyranny. In her work, Il merito delle donne the character Corinna “suggest that men are vicious ‘both by nature and by will’ […] they act from appetite rather than reason” (Deslauriers, 9). In 1600 Lucrezia Marinella pointed out that “ [Men] fall prey to the unreasonable demands of the spirited part of the soul. This is evident because they have a greater propensity for irrational anger, and the consequent desire for revenge, which results from an unrestrained desire for honour” (Deslauriers, 17). Quite honestly, if we think about Brett Kavanaugh’s reaction at his hearing, and the reaction of republican men, this sentence does not need to be elaborated on. It is quite similar to the discourse that members of the #MeToo movement are having when highlighting the difference in treatment of men and women when they get angry. Nothing highlights the total power of the history of white man’s tyranny like realizing that women have been saying the same thing about men for at least 400/500 years.

The fact that we are still having the same conversation repeatedly for hundreds of years highlights the importance of the MeToo and #TimesUp movements. We must continue having these important conversations, and highlighting the inequality that can be seen in the reactions of people and the media to the way men act versus the way women act. The Tyranny of Man is real, and persists, so let’s change the conversation! It is unjust and irrational to get mad at Serena Williams for getting angry at a tennis game, but protect Brett Kavanaugh when he reacts with anger and irrationality at a hearing before being confirmed as supreme court judge. This is not to say that all men display such tyranny, however recognizing the tyranny of those in power positions is important. We must hold men and women to the same standards, especially when people are up for positions that are so permanent and have so much power. By supporting the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements and continuing such discourse we can change the way such issues will be talked about in the future, which is vital for equity between men and women.

Source: Marguerite Deslauriers. “Patriarchal Power as Unjust: Tyranny in 17th Century Venice.”