The Strange and Terrifying Power of Women’s Words

[Anonymous]

The Kavanaugh case is an excellent example. Dr. Ford claims Brett Kavanaugh assaulted her. Instantly, people were clamoring for him to be removed from the nomination to Supreme Court. Clamoring for his career and public life to be destroyed. Clamoring for him to be jailed or killed.

This is all happening despite the fact that Kavanaugh has provided solid evidence that he did not do it, and Ford hasn’t been able to find any corroboration. This includes literally everyone at the alleged party where the assault took place. No one has said they remember Kavanaugh being there, or even that Ford knew Kavanaugh at all. A few of them have testified under oath to the opposite.

This implies that Ford doesn’t remember, is mistaken, or is flat out lying. One could argue that Kavanaugh has been planning for this accusation for decades and convinced every single person at the party to lie in a federal case under oath at extreme risk to themselves to save his ass. Occam’s Razor. The simplest explanation is generally the correct one.

It is Ford’s turn to conclusively prove Kavanaugh’s guilt. She’s currently failing to do so.

Yet Kavanaugh’s reputation as a judge has been ruined simply by the words out of Ford’s mouth. He may still advance to the Supreme Court, but will forever have a black cloud hanging over him regardless of if he is found completely and utterly innocent.

I can keep going. A buddy of mine, Dylan Owens got targeted by an anonymous user on Quora, saying that he’d sent sexually suggestive messages to her. I read it and debunked it. Dylan chipped in later, conclusively showing that he hadn’t messaged any such thing.

With zero evidence backing up the claims of an anonymous internet user, he got death threats before the fake answer was deleted and stopped spreading its awful message.

The last example is personal. My ex and I had a bad falling-out at the end of our relationship. She spread some absolutely horrible rumors about me and things I’d done. They were baseless, sad lies, trying to get revenge on me for God knows what.

I lost a lot my friends for a fair bit until I could talk to them and disprove the things she said. In some cases, I couldn’t get through to them. Some of her friends to this day still look at me like they want to kill me. Like I’m the scumbag she says I am. I’m never gaining my standing back in their eyes. I lost friends, reputation, and sanity on a ridiculous lie.

All because a woman accused a man of wrongdoing.

Even if it’s entirely made-up.

A woman’s accusation has frankly ridiculous power. It scares me sometimes, that I could be targeted in a way that costs me more than a few scuzzballs who can’t tell truth from fiction. What if next time it’s my close relationships on the line? My career?

It’s utterly out of my control, just like it was a few months ago when I broke up with my ex. Just like it was for Dylan when the answer came down. Just like it is right now for Brett Kavanaugh.

That scares me.

[Kiran04]

The left has forgotten that not so long ago, a woman's word could get a black man hanged at the drop of hat. If a white woman accused a black man of rape or sexual assault, he was lynched on the spot. They seem to have forgotten that the outright and adamant believing of women without question lead to the deaths of thousands of innocent black men, yet they claim to be the party raising up black people from the "oppressors", when in reality they're acting exactly like said oppressors.

[myTake Owner]

I wish i could share your comment :)

[Jonny317]

Is your icon a Nazi or KKK symbol? What does it represent?

[Kiran04]

@Jonny317 It's the Kekistani flag. If you don't subscribe to internet culture you won't get it.

[Jonny317]

@Kiran04 Thank you, just looked it up. It's an al-right thing. I'm laughing because you guys can't just admit that you're racist but it's obvious to everyone else. Anyway the notion that there's any "culture" on the internet is laughable. You guys are pathetic. time to get out of your mom's basement.

[Kiran04]

@Jonny317 LOL. No, you didn't look it up.

[Jonny317]

www.splcenter.org/.../what-kek-explaining-alt-right-deity-behind-their-meme-magic

It’s alt right

[SkittleMayn]

@Jonny317 That's how the left twists everything, even memes. Ask yourself: Why would an alt-right man be speaking of the injust deaths of black people?

[Jonny317]

@SkittleMayn to throw off the middle

[joanofarcher]

They haven't forgotten. They know the power of society's impetus to protect women, and how to use it to their advantage. These people are well aware of what they're doing. Its not a new trick.

[JimRSmith]

The guilty until proven innocent mantra is indeed disturbing.

[CoffeeWC]

It's ironic that so many people claim that men are more privileged, when the same is true for women.

[myTake Owner]

Women are the most privileged and don`t even realize it.

[Wifflesnoofer63]

Oh they realize it. But the only way to maintain that privilege is to constantly keep the other side on the defensive.

[x4v13r]

@Wifflesnoofer63 no, women just like to complain a lot. one of the reasons is because they're attention whores that could care less about the integrity of the words spilling out of their face.

[ATuairiscean]

To a degree you are right but we can't go too far the other way - Roy Moore fake news, hit job (bit of investigation hmmm actually its true) - The truth or best solution somewhere in the middle, allow due process to take place quietly then give opinions but we live in the age of the internet and leaks that suit and will be used on all sides.
In conclusion unless we can reverse the power of the public arena mainly the internet , hit jobs and fake news will prevail while the real news will get lost somewhere in tsunami of information - It is no surprise that it trickles down to a personal level like your last 2 examples and somewhere right now there is probably a victim of sexual assault writing an internet piece describing how they were not believed.
With a lot of these issues and why it is felt so deeply , is each side have their examples of where they were wronged and it becomes blinkered. No side is totally right or totally wrong and as I said the fault is not either side but maybe a society that wants a public trial before due process.

[TonyMetal86]

I never cared for a girl's accusation because i know myself and know what i have done in my life if hundreds of girls accuse or attack me, they will fail...

It's us who makes their claims important or not, you shouldn't be a dork believing in everything that they are telling you unless they prove it...

Women's words are only powerful if they are real, for example if you work for me and your ex came and accused you of sexual harrasment, shall i say your fired? Of course not, my answer will be: do you have a proof mam? If she have some kind of proof, i'll talk with you and listen to your side of the story and at the end try to see if there is some solid evidence which makes me sure that her claims are true...

Any thing other then that, you will continue normally like nothing happened...

I dare any girl to come and accuse me in something that i haven't done, she's going to be sorry and curse the time she thought about doing it!

If a girl is honest, speak up loud and if your making things up, just bury your head in beneath the trash!

[abc3643]

"A woman’s accusation has frankly ridiculous power."

Apparently not - and generally, they don't, men or women.

Why?

Due process, slander, and libel.

If someone accuses you of something and you didn't do it, sue them!
If they did it in print, sue them for libel.
If they did it in spoken words, sue them for slander.
And if either of you take it to court, you get to face them. In a criminal trial, you have a Constitutional right to face your accuser (*) and put the accuser on the stand in court. This is part of what is called Due Process.

(*) It's called The Confrontation Clause and it's part of the 6th Amendment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confrontation_Clause

So, learn the law and you won't have any fears - as long as you are innocent.

Notice that the accusers have lawyers too. The accusers and their lawyers understand slander, libel, and due process too. They also know perjury. A sane false accuser WON'T come forward and expose themselves to a perjury charge when it all falls apart. That is what happened in the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case in 2006.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_lacrosse_case

So, don't fear.

By the way, notice how the NY Times came out last Tuesday (October 2) basically saying the Trump violated laws regarding taxes? Trump said "Lies! Lies! Lies!" but he is so full of shit. He was hinting at a libel lawsuit. The NY Times said "Bring it on, asshole!" Why? Because they have the evidence to back up their assertions about the Trump family's de facto illegal activities.

[winterfox10]

Slander charges are also insanely difficult to prove. So the laws aren't nearly as protective as they could be.

[abc3643]

@winterfox10 They are what they are. If the slander charges are difficult to prove then the "slander" isn't that injurious. It's just that simple.

[winterfox10]

It's far from simple... You have to prove intent, that the statements are absolutely false, and also that the statements directly resulted in material damages.

[winterfox10]

Like, if I say "abc3643 stole my car to feed his drug habit," and you lost a religious client because of it; you could sue me for slander. But in order to win the case, you would need to prove that I said it to hurt you, that my words were why you lost your client, and that what I said wasn't true.

[Knighted2170]

Good take.
I agree with you on this Kavanaugh case. The whole thing doesn't make sense.
She was 20 and going to high school parties? Not one, but 10. And she stated that she knew girls were being attacked at these parties. Yet, she still went.
What 20 year old goes to a high school party, repeatedly?
Why didn't she tell someone, like the person she went to the party with? Why didn't she mention it 25 years ago when it happened?

Then the press comes out and says 'this person corroborates her statement.' They are using the word as if the 'witness ' is saying everything Ford said was fact. That's incorrect. The 'witness ' is only stating that Ford told them something.
I could tell you that I went to Mars yesterday. We could go to work and I can tell someone else the same thing. When they question me, I can just point to you and say 'didn't I tell you I went to Mars yesterday?' When you say yes I can then say you corroborated. Actually, all you did was say I told you something. Not that the actual act was done or not.
Its just sad that this is actually being entertained.

[Anonymous]

It is all a pendulum. Sexual assault is real, and ignoring women about it has been real for decades. Have we over corrected? Maybe, but it might also just be part of finding the right middle where everyone is correctly held accountable.

Now, in this specific example, you mention the idea of Occam's Razor. Simplest explanation right? You're currently arguing that a very successful doctor with a great home life would throw it all away to create false accusations against a political theater, knowing full well that the chance of those accusations sticking were unlikely. The alternative is that someone did something bad to her in her past, she moved on, but cannot stomach the thought of this person moving to such a high degree of power in her country.
Now which one sounds more simple?

Its all about perspective, and you're no different from anyone else, you're crafting yours to suit your narrative. Everyone is bending the truth, and it has become so very hard to get back to reality.

[ChgzDaniel]

My boyfriend tried to talk to me about all of this... but politics tend to go in one ear and out the other with me. I liked the guy who stood up for the guy who got accused. He said some good things.
"What happens when you drag $100 through a trailer park" or something... I can't remember exactly what he said... but women suck. I should know, I'm one of them.

[LeoElias]

I'm amazed you exist in this world

[Barrabus_the_Free]

There are reasons that until the 20th century, most societies/cultures didn't allow women to testify in court or serve on juries, didn't allow them to be in positions of governance, didn't take their word as gospel, etc.

It's pretty damned sad that we've actually regressed, to the point that ancient cultures would look at us, shake their heads, and ask "WTF is wrong with you? Are you blind? Will you have a dog as the defense attorney next?"

I don't believe anything a woman says. Period. End of. If she's communicating, she's lying. I've seen too much, lived through too much, to believe them any longer.

[Logorithim]

Underlying problem in the Kavanaugh case is that a lot of people were willing to toss the basis of the US legal System, being innocent until proven guilty, out the window for partisan reasons.

The Brian Banks case (he was falsely accused and convicted of rape around 15 years ago) is actually far more instructive because it is also an indictment of the criminal justice system that failed to protect his rights).

[Anonymous]

That's actually a really good and realistic take...
BRAVO

[Anonymous]

She couldn't say where it happened
She couldn't say when it happened
None of the witnesses she named could corroborate any aspect of her story (which has changed at least twice).
Yet there are people out there right now willing to commit physical violence against this man and his family based on her word alone.
This shit has to stop.

[Nada_Brahma]

You guys should be asking what threat does Kavanaugh pose against the Dems 😏 why are they going through such lengths to destroy trump and K? What are they afraid of? Is it normal? Did you hear the autistic screeching during the hearings? The world is about to change

[Curmudgeon]

Because what the Demunists cannot achieve legislatively, they try to get a judge to magically read into the Constitution something that just does not exist, or worse, read something out of the Constitution that plainly DOES exist. And there you have it.

[SketchForger]

This guy is actually a horrible example of this.

Literally nothing happened to him.

What about the guy who was a football player who got 17 years in prison for a false allegation? Why weren't people talking about that for as long as Kavanaugh.

We all know the answer, but sure, spit rhetoric about how this man's life was ruined.

[Anonymous]

Happened to a family friend of mine. He was trying to adopt a child but was prevented from doing so because a woman with a mental illness accused him of sexual assault on multiple occasions. Luckily for him, one of the days she claimed that he sexually assaulted her was when he was on vacation in another country. It was that which led to his vindication.

[A-man-22]

In a perfect world if they can't find evidence to accuse him with then he should be able to continue on like nothing happened but with compensation for the mental difficulties they made him feel. Also acusee should suffer a long time in jail as to set an example so that people can see that they can't abuse these laws.

[Guanfei]

That's how it works. If a woman says something happening, no matter the proof, or even the truth, you can say she's wrong, otherwise you're sexist.
You're a man, a woman accuse you, well too bad, you're guilty no matter what.

We're under the diktat of twitter justice, of emotions. Where truth can be shaped to fit an ideology instead of the opposite.

[nathanp97]

The investigation expedited. He still could have done it, and know they won't even continue to investigate. This guy gets appointed for life and plays a big role in passing laws. The should have been given more time or at least appoint him temporarily until the investigation ended. The supreme court kept Obama's appointment from comming in a hell of a lot longer, and he wasn't accused of something so bad.

[Just_A_Guy2018]

This is what every man faces when they interact with women. It is best to record all interactions with them and put the copies in safe places, this way your defense lawyers will have an easier time protecting you.

[Anonymous]

Another good example is the whole hollywood thing in the past year. Different male celebrities being accused of sexual assault (a lot of them were guilty), some woman accused Jeremy Piven of sexual assault causing him to be fired from his current tv show and publicly accosted on social media. After the evidence came out it had turned out he'd never even met the woman let alone assaulted anyone...