Most people are not aware of just how common sexual harassment is. Reportedly, 3 in every 4 women have been sexually harassed in her lifetime,  and 1 in every 3 men have experienced sexual harassment of some form. Twenty-seven percent of all women were sexually assaulted, and a large percent of them were assaulted before they were 17 years old (“2018 Study on Sexual Harassment”). One of those women is named Christine Blasey-Ford and she has spoken up about her experiences with Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh was nominated for the position of the Supreme Court Judge. Before he was confirmed, Ford revealed that at a high school party, Kavanaugh attacked her. After a day-long public hearing and a seven-day FBI investigation, Kavanaugh was confirmed.

The allegations were almost identical to an event that took place in 1991 when a woman named Anita Hill spoke up about being assaulted by Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. One of the main differences between Ford and Hill’s situation is how the general public and politicians respond to allegations of sexual misconduct. Hill was not taken seriously, even though she was a well-respected academic. In 1991, only seventeen percent of people thought that Thomas should not be confirmed to the Supreme Court; fifty-two percent supported him (Bowman). Utah Senator Orrin Hatch even compared a part of Hills testimony to an excerpt from the novel The Exorcist and accused her of plagiarizing some of her allegations. Because Hill passed a polygraph test, Wyoming Senator Alan K. Simpson suggested that she was delusional (Jacobs).  The FBI looked into Hills allegations for 3 days, whereas the FBI looked into the Kavanaugh case for 7 days. Ford, though discredited by about a third of the population, drove the country to take a harder look at the way sexual misconduct allegations were handled. “The allegations against Kavanaugh by Ford, a Palo Alto University professor, are occurring in a society that has changed since 1991” (Sherman). We can credit the major change in the way Ford’s and other women’s allegations are perceived to the #MeToo movement; a global movement fighting the reign of men who think they have power over women and their bodies. The reason a greater amount of people took Ford’s side than Hill’s is that the #MeToo movement opened the minds of millions of people.

The #MeToo movement started in 2006, when Tarana Burke, a survivor of sexual assault invented the phrase. Burke wanted to assist disadvantaged women of color who experienced sexual abuse. She wanted to give survivors a voice and to let them know they are not alone. The #MeToo movement remained dormant until over 10 years later when Alyssa Milano asked the Twitter population to respond to her if they had been sexually harassed or assaulted. The next morning, almost 40,000 people had replied to her tweet. The flood of stories that were spoken after centuries of silence quickly turned into a global movement and caused the downfall of some very once-powerful men, such as Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby, and even leaving the 45th president of the United States with a ruined reputation (Hawbaker and Johnson).

The #MeToo movement was not an isolated event. Following the movement, the Women's March and Times Up arose, extending the #MeToo movement and giving voice to all of the women who are fed up with this kind of abuse. The Women's March is an organization that encourages women to challenge the society that is ignoring women’s rights. Women’s March organized a march on Washington D.C. Over a million women attended to protest President Donald Trump and his 16 sexual harassment allegations. Another organization dedicated to Time's Up is an organization that is also a result of the #MeToo movement. It originated when 300 women in Hollywood said “times up” to the culture that forces women to be silent and the mechanism that allows sexual misconduct to continue to wreck the lives of victims. Time's Up also defines sexual harassment and assault and provides a legal defense fund (Hawbaker and Johnson). The #MeToo movement, along with the Women’s March and Time's Up, pushed for social reforms that let survivors, like Ford, know that they are not alone, they have support, and that they never have to keep quiet.

There are multiple similarities between the Kavanaugh and the Thomas hearings, and only a few differences. For one thing, both accusers, Ford and Hill, were esteemed academics, yet many people invalidated them or accused them of lying. Ford and Hill also stayed anonymous until social pressure forced them to reveal their identity. Both Kavanaugh and Thomas aggressively denied the allegations, trying to completely discredit Ford and Hill. In 1991 and in 2018 Ford and Hill had male Republicans trying to disprove their statements. There were, however, a few differences. First, there were more women on the Senate in 2018, and the Democrats supported Ford, whereas many of the Democrats in 1991 voted to keep Thomas. In 2018, sexual misconduct allegations receive much more attention now because of the #MeToo movement (Sherman). The Clarence Thomas scandal lasted only thirty-three days (Liptak). The Kavanaugh allegations came forward September 12th and is still a prominent discussion forty-eight days later. The Kavanaugh confirmation has almost entirely dominated the media ever since the allegations came out. Celebrities such as Ellen Degeneres, Anne Hathaway, Kristen Bell, Busy Philipps, and Rose McGowan are using social media to express their support for Ford. This kind of attention and support never happened before the #MeToo movement emerged when Hill was accusing Thomas of sexual misconduct. So without the #MeToo movement, the public response would’ve been more hostile towards Ford.

Would Ford have felt obligated to speak out against Kavanaugh if the #MeToo movement hadn't occurred? She was frightened by the prospect of speaking up, but she did it anyway. Christine Blasey-Ford stated in an interview with the Washington Post, “Now I feel like my civic responsibility is outweighing my anguish and terror about retaliation” (Ford). Dr. Ford must have known she would get plenty of support from the millions of women who told their stories in 2017. In 1991 many people didn’t know how common sexual assault and harassment was. Now, because of the #MeToo movement, people recognize what sexual misconduct is, how common it is, and how damaging it can be (Ciciora). The #MeToo movement is influencing the general population to become part of a “... broader society that is only now taking allegations of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment more seriously” (Lopez). In addition to the public awakening regarding sexual harassment, examples of the #MeToo movements further impact are seen with changes in society. For instance, more police officers and resources are being dedicated to sexual assault cases (Lopez). More examples of the influence of the #MeToo movement are the way Republicans are treading more lightly when they questioned Ford. In fact, they didn't question her, they hired a female prosecutor to do it for them. Hundreds of thousands of women support Ford through her traumatic journey, more than they ever did for Hill. In a New York Times article, Hill writes, “In 1991, the phrase ‘they just don’t get it’ became a popular way of describing senators’ reaction to sexual violence. With years of hindsight, mounds of evidence of the prevalence and harm that sexual violence causes individuals and our institutions, as well as a Senate with more women than ever, ‘not getting it’ isn’t an option for our elected representatives. In 2018, our senators must get it right” (Reilly). Things needed to change after 1991, and things need to change in 2018.

Without the #MeToo movement, there would not be as many people backing Ford, because people would not understand how common sexual misconduct is and the toll it takes. However, not all people have been informed of these specific issues in our society, so even more awareness needs to be spread. A multitude of survivors still need to tell their stories, so humanity still needs to listen, to be respectful, to comfort and support those who need it. There are many factors that lead to sexual assault and harassment. One of them is the social pressure survivors face that forces them to stay silent. Even though the #MeToo movement destroyed a large amount of that pressure, there is still a long way to go before women feel completely safe sharing their #MeToo stories. Probably the biggest reason sexual misconduct happens is because of the balance of power. There is a common misconception that if a woman dresses in a way that shows a lot of skin, that leads to sexual harassment or assault. The truth is it has nothing to do with how she looks or what she wears, but it is because he feels entitled to her. He feels he is in enough power to control her and take advantage of her. The balance of power needs to shift to make a society that enforces the fact that nobody is entitled or in control of another human being.

Works Cited

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Ford, Matt. “Why This Time Is Different.” The New Republic. 17, Sept. 2018. 30, Oct. 2018.

Gilmore, Leigh. “How Far Have We Really Come Since Anita Hill? We're About To Find Out.” wbur. 20, Sept. 2018. 30, Nov. 2018.

Jacobs, Julia. “Anita Hill’s Testimony and Other Key Moments From the Clarence Thomas Hearings.” The New York Times. 20, Sept. 2018. 30, Nov. 2018.

Johnson, Christen A. and Hawbaker, KT. “#MeToo: A timeline of events.” The Chicago Tribune. 7, Nov. 2018. 30, Oct 2018.

Liptak, Kevin. “The FBI did investigate Anita Hill's accusation, and it took 3 days.” CNN Politics. 20, Sept. 2018. 30, Nov. 2018

Lopez, German. “Why didn’t Kavanaugh’s accuser come forward earlier? Police often ignore sexual assault allegations.” Vox. 29, Sept. 2018. 1, Nov. 2018.

Lowe, Tiana.“The Kavanaugh Hearings Are Hurting #MeToo.”Politico Magazine. 2, Oct. 2018. 29 Oct. 2018.

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Reilly, Kate. “Anita Hill Calls on Senators to 'Get It Right' at Kavanaugh's Hearing Over Sexual Assault Allegation.” Time. 18, Sept. 2018. Dec. 1, 2018.

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