OPINION
DOCTORS Lounge
connects one survivor to another for help,
it is a hashtag for the ages. Sharing trauma,
they say, can remove some of the pain of it,
little by little.
Why do men do this? Psychologists who
study those convicted of sex crimes say they
like it. They feel like players, like big guys.
It feeds their egos and soothes their inse-
curities. It banishes feelings of impotence.
They like a woman to feel subject to their
power. They like the actual touching, the
feeling of possession. They like to brag about
it later, even if only to themselves. They
like to rattle a woman, to intimidate her, to
make her squirm, or even, just to pay them
some attention.
The hashtag #MeToo has been a uni-
fying force. It has focused the anger and
resentment of millions of women against
its appropriate targets, the men who think
women are there to be used. But I suggest
a better hashtag: #UsToo.
Why? Because we all knew about this.
Men knew about their peers who recounted
their exploits. Men knew what their daugh-
ters or wives or sisters had described. Men
knew, and know, that this goes on every day,
all over the world, to women who want no
part of it. This is not flirting, which is the fun
of life. This is not wooing, this is not getting
close to another, this is not making friends,
this is not falling in love or even having a
fling. This is sex that goes in only one direc-
tion, not two. This is sexual exploitation of
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women by men, and we all know it.
Women are speaking up with all the force
we have. Men – it’s your turn. Add your dis-
approval, your disgust, your loss of respect
for men who do this and you know about
it. Say it out loud. Don’t just stand there,
do something.
We can build a culture of mutual respect,
but you know what they say: it takes two to
protest. #UsToo: keep it going.
Dr. Barry practices Internal Medicine with
Norton Community Medical Associates-Bar-
ret. She is a clinical associate professor at the
University of Louisville School of Medicine,
Department of Medicine.
facebook.com/Greater-Louisville-Medical-Society
with GLMS between publications
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@LouMedSociety
Contact [email protected] for
more information
@LouMedSociety
linkedin.com/groups/Greater-Louisville-Medical-Society
DECEMBER 2017
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