This controversy is a turning point

The Brett Kavanaugh controversy is not about him. Nor is it about Professor Christine Blasey Ford, his accuser. It is not about sex or sexual harassment. This is about a turning point in history.

This is about power — and its exercise, especially when it is unseen. Turning points in history are when the unseen becomes visible.

Some say the alleged sexual assault happened 36 years ago: “It’s too long ago.”

But what if someone were accused of committing a murder 36 years ago? Would anyone say: “It’s too long ago”? And, it is for this simple reason that we take such conduct seriously. What if I stole your diamond ring 36 years ago? Would you say it’s OK, because it was 36 years ago? No, we take such matters seriously.

Some say: “Well, they were teenagers.”

Were you ever a teenager? Did you?

Have you ever raised a teenager? Of course, teens are “crazy,” as some apologists have stated. But what are we saying here? What is it that we are teaching our youth when, in circumstances of sexual assault, we say things like “they’re teenagers,” “they’re crazy” or “boys will be boys”?

If you have a teenage daughter, is that acceptable to you in such circumstances? What of a teenage son?

What all these formerly good excuses are about is power — more particularly, the exercise of power by those quietly yet deeply invested with it over those without it.

Similarly, “Why did she wait for 36 years to report!?” “Why didn’t she report earlier?”

If we do not understand discrimination against women — and, we don’t — ask yourself just two questions:

How many presidents of the United States have been women?

What percentage of the population is female?

And perhaps, arising out of your answers to those questions, the dreaded golden question: Why?

These questions reflect the perspective of power — in the form of polite questions. Is it really a simple matter of “just reporting”? In the abstract and intellectually, perhaps yes. But in reality and emotionally, clearly not.

In case you flubbed the prior questions, a woman has never been president and the reason for that reflects the difficulty for women in “just reporting.” You may recall Anita Hill: You might like mud; how about being dragged through it?

Many men cannot understand the #MeToo movement. That is because it represents a fundamental shift in social power. What was social convention, without having to say what it was or explain or even think about, is the definition of real power.

This moment is the shifting of power that was so deep that it was assumed and thus not seen. With the repeated incidents of one powerful, privileged man after another going down, a common response is: “What the heck is going on!?” The standard of behavior — unstated — was merely reflected by the behavior of Harvey Weinstein, Roger Ailes, Bill Cosby, Roy Moore — should I go on?

Once we understand this, we see that it is not that the guys were particularly “evil.” “Hey, he’s a good person” is the often heard refrain. Rather than individual defects (though that may be), the problem is the societal standard or allocation of power itself. This is how real power flows, unspoken, unseen, yet acted out by all players: perpetrators, victims and we, the public (in our reactions), alike.

The beautiful thing about human beings is our ability to learn. Learning implies and, in fact, requires change. You cannot grow if you remain the same. We have the ability to learn and thus change our understanding, and thereby our perspective, and so, our behavior and thereby our society. This capacity is the engine of human growth, evolution and progress. Nothing could be so exciting. Do not get stuck at the question: “What the heck is going on!?” This is a turning point in history. Evolution, progress — right here, right now. Seize it.