'I Am Victim'

The Washington Post ^ | February 25, 2004 | Anne Applebaum

[neverdem]

Sometimes in the course of a great American debate there comes a moment when the big battle guns fall silent, the pundits run out of breath, and -- unexpectedly -- the long, bitter argument suddenly turns into farce. In the past two decades, this nation has lived through the spectacle of Anita Hill accusing Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment; the destruction of the career of Sen. Bob Packwood; the ugly drama of Paula Jones, her lawyers and the president; and, as a result, the creation of multiple university and workplace "codes of sexual conduct," which no one dares defy. But now it's as if none of that ever happened: In an extraordinary, several-thousand-word article in New York magazine, Naomi Wolf, the celebrated feminist writer, has just accused Harold Bloom, the celebrated literary scholar, of having put his hand on her thigh at Yale University 20 years ago.

But Wolf's article is not merely about that event (a secret that she "can't bear to carry around anymore"). The article is also about the lasting damage that this single experience has wrought on a woman who has since written a number of bestsellers, given hundreds of lectures, been featured on dozens of talk shows and photographed in various glamorous poses, including a smiling, self-confident head shot on New York magazine's Web site this week. Not that she mentions her achievements. On the contrary, she implies that this terrible experience left a lasting mark on her academic and professional career: "I was spiraling downward; I had gotten a C-, a D, and an F. . . . My confidence shaken, I failed in my effort to win the Rhodes Scholarship."

[neverdem]

I saw Rita Crosby interview her on FNC. If you looked at her emotional replies, you would have sworn she was raped.

[dirtboy]

On the contrary, she implies that this terrible experience left a lasting mark on her academic and professional career: "I was spiraling downward; I had gotten a C-, a D, and an F. . . . My confidence shaken, I failed in my effort to win the Rhodes Scholarship."

Without knowing the specifics of the accusation (which in all likelihood falls into the realm of "she said, he said" with no possible chance of resolution either way), methinks Naomi is looking for someone other than herself to blame for her past academic failures.

[PackerBoy]

Good thing for her it was not Bill Clinton who "raped" her thigh with his hand. She would have been investigated and vilified and ultimately Arkancided.

[Igraine]

This isn't rape. If someone put his hand on her thigh 20 years ago and she still hasn't gotten over it, that's her own fault.

[2banana]

Better put some ice on that...

[Rummyfan]

Naomi Wolf.... the woman who wrote that'women should be demon-goddesses of love'? The woman who was hired by the Gore campaign as an advisor at the rate of $15K a month? Have you ever tried to read any of her stuff? Dense as a hedgerow (the writing I mean). I think Naomi may be a little imbalanced.....

[neverdem]

LOL

[Sam Cree]

So this Wolfe person is saying no man should ever make a move on a woman, for fear of scarring her for life?

I think it unnatural, and think that feminism must be a derivation of Puritanism.

[theFIRMbss]

>Naomi Wolf, the celebrated feminist writer, has just accused Harold Bloom, the celebrated literary scholar, of having put his hand on her thigh at Yale University 20 years ago. ... The article is also about the lasting damage that this single experience has wrought on a woman

I'd like to confess
that once, in the back seat of
my friend's old Mustang,

I put my hand down
right before our friend Joanne
sat down. She sat on

my hand. Then, of course,
she slapped and punched me silly
as our friend Gail laughed...

So, now, two decades
later, I admit my crime,
and, Joanne, if you

are out there somewhere,
I hope my admission helps
you work through your pain.

[Verginius Rufus]

We all owe Naomi a debt of gratitude. For a mere $15,000 a month, she helped ensure that the country would never have Al Gore as President.

[Billthedrill]

Joanne's lawyer called
She wants a million dollars
She feels your pain too.

[redpoll]

Dear God, it all comes back in a flash. That time Martha wouldn't kiss me at the high school dance. The young woman who spurned me with insult and diatribe. The other one who told me that I wasn't rich enough to walk down the street. Not to mention that beefy woman from Ketchikan who insisted on kissing and touching when I was drunk and clearly didn't want it. I was violated! Rejected! No wonder I only got an 1100 on my SATs. The pain! The anguish! I need therapy! Thank you, Naomi, for pointing out how minor instances of immodest action are cause for so much dysfunction in the world. Maybe someone put his hand on Ann Coulter's knee, turning her into the fascist conservative she is today. Katie Couric's perkiness is just a mask for the slip of a hand at the school of journalism. I think I need to cry now.

[NYCVirago]

Naomi Wolf.... the woman who wrote that'women should be demon-goddesses of love'? The woman who was hired by the Gore campaign as an advisor at the rate of $15K a month? Have you ever tried to read any of her stuff? Dense as a hedgerow (the writing I mean). I think Naomi may be a little imbalanced.....

She's a wackjob, all right. I first heard of her when she was flouncing her shiny black hair and batting her mascara-tinged eyes, while at the same time complaining about the oppressiveness of cosmetics and hairdressers in the book she was trying to sell, "The Beauty Myth."

[dwills]

heh, she was seeking a sponsorship for the rhodes from this bloom but ended up getting it anyway the next year from another faculty member

i wouldn't say 'no harm, no foul', but she's accusing an old (dead, perhaps?) man too late for this to be anything but self-serving

[EllaMinnow]

Naomi Wolf was on the panel on Dennis Miller's show during it's first week on the air, and many freepers noted how she couldn't keep her hands off of the arms and shoulders of the men she was talking to.

I wonder if she thinks she was raping them?

[neverdem]

LOL

[happygrl]

I've been waiting a looong time to hear this from you.

Didn't thinkd I'd track you down, did you ?

Well, I've been hangin' out on this site for a long time, just waiting to make my move.

At last, I'm justified.

It's here, for the whole wide internet world to see.

You're sorry.

And I feel so much better.

[buffyt]

20 years ago? Give me a BREAK!

[Red Boots]

feminism must be a derivation of Puritanism An insult to Puritanism ! Puritans regularily had 10-12 children, so they must have known how to make some moves ! I think it( feminism ) more akin to .... Dr Kavorkian, maybe, in it's obsession with anti-life.

[Sam Cree]

10-12 children, my gosh!