#MeToo: Is this a Revolution?

For months we've asked the question.

Never before in our country's history have women voiced cases of sexual harassment and assault like they have now.

Never before has there been such a flood of powerful men denying, admitting, apologizing, excusing, and resigning in every field.

However you see it, a bandage has been ripped off and our nation is staring at -- yet another -- festering wound.

Growing up in the 80's and 90's, I wasn't raised in a culture of silent women.  We were smart and articulate, vocal, innovative, and taught to work and fight for any dream we had.  Some of our moms stayed home with us, some worked.  The term "latchkey kid" became common place with we Gen Xers.

"You can be anything you want to be."

But could we?  There'd never been a woman president.
Women didn't (and still don't) make up 20% of the Congress.
Five states have never even elected a woman to the House.

We were taught that jobs were not gender-specific by our 95% female teachers.

We were taught to speak up about abuse or harassment.
But even at my small progressive school, a math teacher was accused of touching girls, and the school did nothing.
A student was raped. 
A student showed up with a black eye from her boyfriend.
Nothing happened.

I don't know how the hearing will play out with Judge Kavanaugh tomorrow.  None of us does, though our news feeds are dominated by the allegations, denials, and the rampant questions orbiting it all:
Could she have mistaken him for someone else? 
Was anyone even sober at that high school party?
Do year book signatures count for anything?
Couldn't she have fabricated the whole thing?
Could he not be an entirely different person 36 years later?

The lists of questions generated by this altercation aren't simple.
Stories and evidence in the hearing need to be weighed far away from partisan lines.

If he is found guilty, the next question is, should a 53 year old man's career really depend on his actions as a 17 year old boy?

When it comes to serving on the highest court in the country,
to being the final word in interpreting our constitution,
to ultimately protecting and upholding justice for all people in this country,
and for standing in the spotlight for every 17 year old boy, present and future,
it has to.

What will history tell our daughters and sons if in the middle of the #MeToo movement -- an unorganized and decentralized movement, yes, but the impetus for a dam breaking -- the women who made allegations against the President of the United States and two Supreme Court Justices -- men in the most powerful seats in our government -- made the news but no difference?