#MeToo

We continue to live “in a climate in this country that consistently devalues women: their lives, their agency, and their worth.” This prolonged “rape culture” was actually endorsed by the 2016 election of this nation’s current president. The pervasiveness of sexual harassment and assault experienced by women reaches staggering depths beyond the workplace. Groping a woman occurs in the kitchen, when he is certain no one is looking, while preparing Thanksgiving dinner with family. The experience of sexual assault never leaves her memory. She carries the trauma of the experience, always wishing she had confronted him at the moment, regardless of the potential consequences. And, make no mistake, there would be consequences. So, for me, #MeToo. Articles like the one in Christian Century, How #MeToo Calls Everyone to Fight Sexual Harassment and Assault, bring encouragement. Women speaking up about their experiences of sexual harassment and assault, invites a future for our granddaughters whereby they are confident, empowered, prosperous, and triumphant. And, a very important contributing factor, not to be ignored, is that, “God is NOT a boy’s name!”