Fancy Free?

Today, I am just furious.

I just cannot be Fancy Free today. The fancy has left the building, and frankly, I may follow it.

I am beyond upset about the “Cornell 7” case.

A former Cornell student, identified as Jane Doe, has filed a civil lawsuit alleging she was drugged and gang-raped by seven men at a fraternity house in 2024. The accused deny wrongdoing, and the allegations remain under investigation.

They deserve a fair legal process. She deserves to be heard without being publicly humiliated. These should not be competing ideas.

Then along comes Megyn Kelly.

On her show, Kelly criticized the appearance of a woman she believed to be Jane Doe and suggested she might have welcomed the sexual attention because she wasn’t particularly attractive.

Apparently, we are now assessing consent with a beauty pageant scorecard.

What on earth does a woman’s body type have to do with whether she was raped? Since when does someone’s opinion of your attractiveness determine your right to say no or your credibility when you say you were assaulted?

Women do not have to pass a swimsuit competition to qualify for basic human dignity.

And while we’re scrutinizing bodies, could we spare a little attention for the conduct described in the lawsuit? Reporting on the case includes a fraternity group message advertising “free pussy.” I would rather hear some serious questions about that grotesque language and the entitlement behind it and the fact that not one male rose to the occasion and called authorities or dragged the woman out of the rape room. They only rose for pleasure and not to afford her human decency.

What makes Kelly’s commentary particularly galling is her own account of sexual harassment at Fox News. She explained that coming forward publicly against Roger Ailes, Chairman and CEO  of Fox News and Fox Business, as well as the Chairman of Fox Television Stations, earlier would have been a professional “suicide mission.” She understood the fear, the power imbalance and the potential consequences of speaking out.

But compassion cannot be something you demand for yourself and withdraw when another woman needs it. If you understand why speaking up can be frightening, how do you justify making the experience even more frightening for someone else?

We spend years asking why women don’t come forward. Then a woman does, and a national broadcaster starts grading her appearance. There is your answer or at least a deeply ugly part of it.

You can question evidence. You can insist on due process. Neither requires cruelty, and neither is helped by body-shaming a young woman.

Jane Doe deserves better. All women deserve better than having our bodies inspected, our motives invented and our dignity treated as optional programming.

So forgive me. No charming recommendation today. No little indulgence to send us into the weekend.

My suggestion is basic human decency and respect for women which has been greatly diminished by the sexist blowhard in the White House.