Power, Responsibility, and Judgement.
A couple of nights ago I was watching the Golden Globe Awards. We have so many wonderful and talented performers and it's nice to see hard work rewarded and peers acknowledging each other. I, like many others, was suitably impressed with the eloquent and powerfully moving speech made by none other than Oprah Winfrey. It spoke out about sexual harassment and how it has been in the dark for far too long. It also has kicked off the "Time's Up" movement to get it into the light. The behaviour is not acceptable and more importantly, people have to stop being punished or disbelieved when they speak up about it.
I felt a great deal of sadness this morning as I was reading that Ivanka Trump spoke in agreement with Oprah and wanted to let it be publicly acknowledged. I was surprised at so many people reacting in a very unkind and negative way pointing out that her father is a predator and telling her she didn't get to be a part of this. I felt it was exceedingly unfair to judge her on her father's actions. And to shun her was this side of cruel. I stated on social media that I wanted people to think about what they say and how they judge each other. After all, if he is a predator outwardly, do they not think he is also at home? I believe that she is just as much a victim as all those complaining about him and frankly maybe more!! You don't know what goes on behind closed doors and she never looks happy. I have always thought she looks haunted. Sadly I am all too familiar with that look as I have worn it before myself. On the outside everybody thought my family was healthy, happy, and supportive of each other. I grew up feeling betrayed by every male figure in my impressionable life. They all took turns molesting me and making me feel less and less worthy. Mine is not a singular story unfortunately. Many of us has grown up in a society where females of all ages were not valued except for play time. And many of us grew up very angry. My daughter never experienced that because I was extremely diligent in watching for that and fortunately I had quality people in my life. She has grown to be an incredible, vibrant, and extremely intellectual individual.
I speak to all of this because the reason they got away with it for so long was because no one would speak up. We weren't believed and lots of times ridiculed for saying anything. Our parents didn't want anything to rock the boat. My Mother always said "Peace at any Price!" I didn't understand what she meant by that until I finally had the courage to tell her what had been happening for about 10 years. And, predictably, she reacted in a huge dramatic way wanting to know why I hadn't said anything before. We would have left. She had never let me know that I had that kind of support since I had once tried to share some feelings with her and she told me not be ridiculous! To this day, I can feel very uncomfortable in some situations.
I am sorry for the backlash that Ivanka is taking but more than that I feel worried that the human race is losing it's "Humanity". Love each other and please think before you open your mouth. You don't know how far reaching your disdain will be.
