A number of weeks ago you may have seen this phrase pop up on your Facebook or Twitter feed. It popped up on my Facebook, and I shared it. As I, too, have been a victim of harassment and abuse. I’m grateful I haven’t been raped. My heart is shredded for all who’ve gone through that violent experience.
Marsha R. West, Author 
I have a story, too, but I don’t share it except in person. Because of it, I left a job I loved.
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Hey, Vicki. Yeah, I don’t tell details either. Sorry you had to leave a job you loved. There should be other options. So often that’s not the case. Thanks for sharing and stopping by. 🙂
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The #metoo campaign (for lack of a better word), made me revisit an incident from many years ago, and tell the story to a couple of people close to me. I told them of my experience and the fear that followed me for a long time. This was an incident I hadn’t thought about for many, many years, yet sharing the words felt good.
But the crazy flip side was thinking back over all the men I have worked with/for in my various careers, what incredibly vulnerable positions I was often in, and how wonderful it is that except for that one rotten s.o.b., they all treated me with respect–even one with a bad “womanizer” reputation!
I’m very glad #metoo has happened. And very grateful for the open dialogue.
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Hey, Kathryn. Yes, I hadn’t thought in years about the various experiences until this campaign got underway. You just go on and live busy lives. I’m so glad you added about all the “good guys,” because there’re are plenty of those out there. It’s just that what the bad guys do, stays with us forever. Thanks so much for stopping by. 🙂
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I didn’t do the Me,Too on FB or Twitter, but yes, Me, Too. Very often in the 70’s & 80’s, not really at all after I started working for the school district. I learned how to handle jerks. Too bad you just don’t have that kind of experience and confidence when you’re 21.
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Hey, Julie. I think you’re right. As we get older and more secure in who we are and our value and worth, it’s easier to say back off. That’s not appropriate. At 20 or 21, much harder to do. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
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Just seeing this; thank you for writing it. Romance became very important to me in my twenties because of the guaranteed HEA. For years I avoided books, films, anything that might trigger the memory of what happened to me at 22. I didn’t call it what it was, even to myself, for 12 years. I blamed myself for “bad judgment” because I’d trusted someone who didn’t deserve that trust. I told no one until I was 34.
For many of us, acknowledging the thing aloud and having the person we tell believe us, whether it’s been an hour or a decade or fifty years, is critical. That, and the full, internal realization that it was not our fault. That it was *never* our fault.
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