Opinion

Terese Marie Mailhot: Being honest about sexual assault in society

Monday, November 7, 2016

Terese Marie Mailhot. Photo from Facebook

The campaign of Donald Trump was rocked last month when women came forward with disturbing accounts of sexual harassment and outright assault against the Republican presidential nominee. But it isn't just about men in power -- writer Terese Marie Mailhot (Seabird Island Band) discusses how women are treated and talked about by men of all backgrounds:

I believe in every person’s responsibility to honor women’s voices and challenge how conversations about sexual assault are being mishandled.
I spent a few short hours observing my social media feeds and objected to any behavior I found complicit in suppressing women’s voices, stories, and truths. In a single day I was privy to some disgusting comments from educated men, working-class men, men with families and daughters …
On the accusations Trump was facing, an older, somewhat oblivious, man (who would like to be anonymous) stated that the accusers were eight “weasel ladies” who “wanted fame” and had “no life.” I’m paraphrasing here because he had problems forming full sentences.
After Trump’s exposure, women in the public sphere came out to expose how prevalent this issue is. On Jezebel, a piece was published about Rose McGowan’s account of being raped by a Hollywood executive. In the comments section, Dennis Oliver wrote, “She’s a media whore. I already know what they want, attention.” Oliver also stated, “Whores are capable of almost anything.” I asked him kindly if he would mind me sending these statements of his to his employer, and he quickly deleted his comments. Interesting. These are men existing in our work environments, under our noses, with covert misogyny they probably only reveal online.

Read More:
Terese Marie Mailhot: What We Say When We Talk About Assault (Indian Country Today 11/5)