Ailey O’Toole
on the argument that men should not be prevented from getting jobs in their field after being fired for workplace sexual assault
My best friend tells me she doesn’t think Kevin Spacey should be prevented from ever working as an actor again just because he raped that boy that one time and suddenly I am 14 again and my high school soccer coach who is also my biology teacher is inviting me back to his house after the tournament, sliding his hand up the small of my back as he tells me he has plenty of beer and, “Maybe we could have a good time together.” I am too young to know how to say no. My mom tells me that just because a professor is fired for sexually assaulting a student doesn’t mean he should have his livelihood taken away even if it was an abuse of power and suddenly I am 18 again and my chemistry TA has me pinned to a park bench, slamming himself inside of my soft pink flesh and I can feel the bruises rising on my back but I don’t tell him to stop because I know I’m not supposed to, I know that because I told him I wanted it at one point that I have to let him have this, even if it’s hurting me. JK Rowling releases a statement about hiring Johnny Depp for her new movie despite his wife’s allegations of domestic violence and suddenly I am
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