Women Castigate Columnist Who Defended Brett Kavanaugh's Conduct as a Teenager
In my last column, I took a look at Brett Kavanaugh's alleged behavior in the teenage context, and I received an avalanche of responses—largely divided along gender lines.
September 21, 2018 at 02:44 PM
4 minute read
The original version of this story was published on The American Lawyer
I expected blowback for my post on Brett Kavanaugh, and I got a hurricane of it. But I knew I was courting trouble, arguing that Kavanaugh's alleged behavior as a drunken teenager in the early 1980s shouldn't automatically disqualify him for the U.S. Supreme Court.
What I didn't expect, however, was how much the negative/positive reaction would be divided along gender lines. Many women took strong issue with my post. Here's a sampling:
- You just excused his alleged behavior through rape-culture stereotype excuses … Shame on you!
- I have followed your column for years. I find this one abhorrent.
- You are tone-deaf about sexual harassment.
- Your article is exactly why girls and women don't speak up about their situations like this.
I don't agree with those assessments. What I tried to do was to look at Kavanaugh's alleged behavior in context. I wrote: “Not only were Kavanaugh and his friend feckless teenagers, but they were apparently drunk out of their minds.” Those are stabs at understanding his alleged behavior, not excuses.
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