Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley
One of
the things I will always remember about the Brett Kavannagh hearings was putting
on Blasey Ford’s testimony at the beginning of a class, and several female
students thanking me for doing so. Of
course, we later discussed the confirmation hearings and the fallout. It is to all the students, male and female,
credit that no one ever brought the idea that Kavanagh was on trial, despite
what many pundits kept trying to claim.
During
the hearings, then President Trump referred to how tough men had it because they
could, basically, be accused of sexual assault/harassment at drop of a hat and
then their lives would be ruined.
Funny
how that worked out Kavanagh, isn’t it?
It is true
Brodsky’s credit that in her book, Sexual Justice, she takes seriously the reservations
that some may have about how sexual harassment issues are dealt with in, primarily
in schools but also in a boarder legal sense.
No, she doesn’t treat Trump’s rhetoric seriously, though she does dismantle
the assumptions that underlie it with grace and neutral tone. She focuses on what it means when those
students or professor who are accused do not have access or full knowledge
about how the process works, she deals with the question of race that can hang
over some accusations as well as the history of why the defense in sexual assault
cases is connected the way it is. She details
the history of Title IX, the impact of both Trump and Obama on harassment cases
in college, as well as educating the reader about the differences between the
legal system and the system that may exist in a college as well as the public. She burns down the myths that several far-right
groups have put forward about #MeToo and feminism.
More importantly,
what she also presents is a solution, or to be more exact a format or guide, to
deal with sexual assault cases both in terms of education but also by the public. Her use of history and various cases does
this. She not only deals with survivors
but also those who have been accused - and she clearly states what that person’s
story and/or outcome was. Her prose is
easily accessible.
IT is
not a perfect book. While Brodsky does
cite several studies over the course of the book, there are times I found
myself wishing that some of those studies had been more recent (or if there was
not a more recent study that this was made clear). I also, for the most part disliked the almost
constant “I think” and “I believe” that proceed many statements. There are a few places in the book where this
is needed - for instance when she is discussing race and harassment – but it is used way too
much. It is your book, I presume it is
your opinion unless you tell me otherwise.
The
above two aside, this book should be read by everyone and be required reading
for those who discuss sexual assault/harassment.
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