Hill to talk politics, #MeToo at Rice lecture
Anita Hill, widely known for testifying against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas nearly 30 years ago, will lead a lecture Monday at Rice University, discussing the #MeToo movement and its effect on the political and cultural landscape in the United States.
Her hourlong lecture, “From Social Movement to Social Impact: Putting an End to Sexual Harassment in the Workplace,” comes more than a year after several celebrities came forward with sexual misconduct allegations against Hollywood executives, producers and actors, reigniting the #MeToo movement that was originally launched by activist Tarana Burke. And it occurs almost six months after Christine Blasey Ford, a Palo Alto University professor, testified against then-Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh, alleging that he had sexually assaulted her at a party when they were both teenagers.
Hill, a lawyer and Brandeis University professor, has been vocal about the recent events, even predicting in September while in Houston that Kavanaugh would be confirmed as Supreme Court Justice despite Blasey Ford’s allegations.
Ford’s story, Hill has noted, has parallels to her own.
In 1991, Hill, too, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, alleging that Thomas, once her supervisor at the U.S. Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, sexually harassed her by making unwanted advances and sexual comments. Thomas, like Kavanaugh, was eventually confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Hill’s testimony and wherewithal despite public backlash inspired widespread discussion about sexual harassment and the lack of women in government.
People are more educated in gender studies, journalists are more sensitive during hearings, and the #MeToo movement has created a community that has shed more light on sexual harassment and violence, said Hill in September.
“I think the public understanding is going to definitely be elevated to what you might have seen and read in 1991,” said Hill, whose story has been told in the 2016 HBO biopic “Confirmation” and the 2013 documentary “Anita.”
Hill’s continuing anti-sexual violence work and activism has made her an important guest for Rice’s “Gray/Wawro Lecture Series in Gender, Health and Well-being,” which aims to feature scholars who push public dialogue forward, inspire work toward a more just world, and increase the understanding the current series’ underlying #MeToo theme, according to a news release.
Hill’s work “is not frozen in time in 1991,” said Helena Michie, the director of Rice’s Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality. “[She] has helped change the discourse about women in the workplace every day of her life since then.”
Monday’s lecture will be followed by a 30-minute Q&A session with the audience.
Though free and open to the public with RSVP, the event is sold-out and will be streamed online starting at 6:30 p.m. Monday.
Check back here on Campus Chronicles for coverage of the event.