Kavanaugh Gave a Messy, Angry Performance That Would Never Be Allowed From a Woman
Judge Brett Kavanaugh's opening statement in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing testimony, relating to a sexual assault he allegedly committed, clocked in at a flabbergasting 45 minutes. During his time, Kavanaugh vacillated wildly between excoriating the senators in front of whom he sat, welling up with emotion, pausing to compose himself, drinking water, and sometimes banging on the table. He spoke about his family, his parents, his love of beer, his female friends, the women he picked to clerk for him, and the team he coaches.
His thoughts were free-wheeling; some moments he seemed enraged, others close to melting down. It was, to put it mildly, a surprising performance. There is no doubt that what is happening in his life right now is unpleasant and against his wishes. He made that much clear. His reaction to it, however, suggests a person who has been pushed to the brink, a person who feels they have no other choice, a person who has to fight to be believed. A person, in short, who finds themselves in a position like Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
Hours earlier, Dr. Ford detailed for the committee the harassment that has driven her from her home twice, the PTSD that forced her to install two front doors on her home for protection, and, of course, the assault she says Kavanaugh and Mark Judge committed against her. Throughout hours of questions, Dr. Ford was exceedingly collegial, often lamenting that she could not be of more assistance. After Senator Cory Booker asked her a leading question about how she felt about the way the hearing had been conducted, she answered "I wish that I could be more helpful and that others could be more helpful, and that we could collaborate in a way that would get at more information." Her politesse was stunning, particularly in the face of what she has had to endure. And it all disappeared the minute Dr. Ford's testimony ended.
Kavanaugh repeatedly interrupted, talked over, and yelled at Democratic senators. He was petulant and surly; he refused, multiple times, to say whether he'd be in favor of an FBI investigation; he was by turns hostile, aggrieved, and weepy. He has every right to his emotions but the gathered body, and the general public, would never have allowed such a display from Dr. Ford, or any woman. Kavanaugh benefited unequivocally from a double standard that we apply to women that polices their behavior, their expressions of emotions, and their anger. Women, particularly women in the public eye, are required to maintain composure, to be agreeable, and to be responsive.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters, for instance, has been targeted by Republicans and the President for her outspoken nature in a way that similarly outspoken male colleagues have not been. In July, President Trump tweeted "Crazy Maxine Waters, said by some to be one of the most corrupt people in politics, is rapidly becoming, together with Nancy Pelosi, the FACE of the Democrat Party. Her ranting and raving, even referring to herself as a wounded animal, will make people flee the Democrats!" While the President is no respecter of persons, his characterization of her and Congresswoman Pelosi as crazy, ranting, and raving veers intentionally close to the insult "hysterical," a gendered derogatory term that originated as a diagnosis of a women's medical condition. For decades we have also seen the same policing of Hillary Clinton, whose public image and ability to express herself has been constantly scrutinized. Take, for instance, media frenzy that surrounded a moment of human emotion from Hillary Clinton during the 2008 primaries. In 1999, academic Tom Lutz wrote, "Hillary Clinton has been routinely condemned by some of her critics for being too masculine, too hard and cold, but one can imagine the criticism that would rain down on her if she were to cry on camera."
Men simply do not endure the same scrutiny. Toxic masculinity has its own dictates around emotion but the fact of the matter is that the threat of being labelled hysterical, or difficult, or angry are never dangled over our heads in the way that they are over women's. And this is something Kavanaugh, who repeatedly touted his record with women, should know all too well. "Throughout my life, I've devoted huge efforts to encouraging and promoting the careers of women," he said in his opening statement. "I will put my record up against anyone, male or female." Kavanaugh said the word "women" 23 times during his lengthy opening statement, sometimes yelling it, sometimes whispering it through suppressed sobs. He spoke passionately of the women who supported him and railed at the women who opposed him, snapping at Senator Diane Feinstein and snarkily asking Senator Amy Klobuchar, who'd noted that she was a child of a recovering alcoholic, whether she'd ever drank to the point of blacking out.
Brett Kavanaugh, in attempting to defend his character and prove he was worthy of a seat passing judgement in the highest court in the nation, gave a messy, angry, unprofessional tantrum that was unbecoming of the appointment he seeks. I can't speak to his thought process during today's testimony, but as a man and someone who benefits daily from male privilege, I know that he never once stopped and asked himself, "how can I be more helpful?"
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