Show Women Sympathy, Whether They’re Porn Stars Or Nuns

I can't believe that we still need to spell this out, but all women are deserving of respect and sympathy regardless of their profession.

Jake Tapper, in a voice-over of a CNN Livestream of the Brett Kavanaugh hearing, rambled on, "This is not a porn star or a lawyer for a porn star or a Playboy playmate that President Trump can attack. This is a very sympathetic individual." We get it: Tapper thinks that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is wholesome, in no small part due to her professional standing. But even if she wasn't a professor of psychology, and was a porn star or a Playboy playmate, it doesn't have any bearing on whether or not she deserved to be sexually assaulted, or whether or not we can show her sympathy in the aftermath. Regardless of how Trump treats women, Tapper should know better than to mimic that kind of thinking at all. 

It is essential that we call out anyone who parrots the sentiment that women are only believable when they are perfect and poised in their victimhood. Every victim deserves to be treated with respect, no matter their professional history. And by keeping one idea of what a victim looks like, we also risk not understanding that an abuser can look a lot like someone who goes to church every Sunday and keeps a meticulous calendar. We have to rid ourselves of stereotypical ideas of what a victim is and what a perpetrator is, so we can better understand the truth.