By Donald V. Watkins
©Copyrighted and Published on September 29, 2018
Women who are raped and sexually assaulted are victims of crimes and should be treated as such. Women who tolerate the cavalier and chauvinistic attitude most men exhibit toward female rape and sexual assault victims are after-the-fact facilitators of this disgusting behavior in our dominant, male-privilege culture. Women who do not condemn this type of behavior implicitly tolerate it.
Based upon the rights and privileges conferred under the amalgamation of federal and state constitutions, statutory laws, common law jurisprudence, and traditional social customs from colonial days to present day, here are the power rankings of different segments within American society:
1. White males -- the U.S. Constitution was written by white males and ratified for the benefit of white males only;
2. Dogs, horses, cows, and other valued animals -- animal rights laws date back to the Massachusetts Body of Liberties (1641) -- the first legal code established by European colonists in New England);
3. Black males;
4. White females; and
5. Black females.
Prior to the end of the Civil War in 1865, blacks had no legal rights in America. Then, in 1865, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude. In 1868, the 14th Amendment guaranteed to African-Americans the right of due process and equal protection of the law. In 1870, the 15th Amendment gave blacks the right to vote. In 1964, the 24th Amendment abolished the poll tax requirement for blacks voting in federal elections. Of course, it would take a century of social activism before any of these legal rights would be effectively enforced.
Like slaves, women had no legal rights in America when the U.S. Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788. Like slaves, women in America were regarded as second-class citizens and the “property” of white men.
Prior to October 6, 1871, a husband enjoyed the legal right to: (a) beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb, (b) pull her hair, (c) choke her, (d) spit in her face, (d) kick her about the floor, and (e) inflict upon her like indignities that were sanctioned in the old English common law (which served as the foundation for American laws). In addition to his ability to physically abuse his wife, a husband also acquired the rights to his wife's person, the value of both her paid and unpaid labor, and any property that accompanied their nuptials.
From 1736 to 1979, laws in each colony/state gave married men the right to rape their wives with impunity and without legal consequences.
In 2016, a Republican presidential candidate, who routinely called women “dogs” and “pigs”, was elected as the 45th President of the United States -- with strong support from women voters. Prior to his election, women across America knew from his own tape-recorded words that President Donald J. Trump grabbed women by the “pussy” and kissed them without their permission. They also knew that Trump gleefully allowed other men (e.g., Howard Stern, etc.) to disrespect his daughter Ivanka by publicly calling her a “voluptuous”, “piece of ass” in his presence.
In 2017, America learned that President Trump openly supported former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, a reputed pedophile, in his bid for a U.S. Senate seat last year. Moore was accused of molesting several young teenage girls while he was serving as a local prosecutor in Gadsden, Alabama. Thankfully, Alabama voters, who are mostly “Red State” Republicans, drew the line in the sand at pedophilia and defeated Moore.
Along with this legal and political history, Americans have also seen so-called “Evangelical Christians” embrace and condone the sexist, chauvinistic, sexually abusive, and regressive political agenda that is on full display in the Republican effort to seat Brett Kavanaugh on the U.S. Supreme Court, at all cost. Kavanaugh, who is a nothing more than political hack, has privately signaled his willingness to undo Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark case that recognized a woman’s right to choose an abortion.
Kavanaugh, who is also a husband and father of two daughters, is the Supreme Court nominee Trump chose to take all Americans back to an unsafe time for pregnant women in our country’s history. Sadly, Kavanaugh is willing to betray all women in order to accomplish this outdated, chauvinistic, anti-women, political goal. For this reason, alone, Kavanaugh is unfit to serve on the Supreme Court.
One of the senators leading the charge for Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation is Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who was also a Republican presidential candidate in 2016. When Trump gratuitously attacked Cruz’ wife and her physical appearance during the 2016 presidential election, Cruz did nothing to defend her honor. Since Trump has been president, Cruz has been on his knees performing a political form of “fellatio” on Trump, even when Trump does not ask for it. With the Kavanaugh nomination on the line, Cruz has switched from fellating Trump to French-kissing his political derrière (figuratively speaking).
Given the long, well-documented, undisputed, historical mistreatment of women in America, why do so many of them who are loving mothers, daughters, sisters, nieces, and wives continue to facilitate the unabated perpetuation of abusive male privilege when they have the voting power to end it, immediately?
PHOTO: The Power and Control Chart depicting how men control women who are friends, family members, co-workers, and sexual assault victims. This chart was prepared and published by the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center at the University of Michigan.
