Sorry if some one has posted about this, I looked but didn’t find it.

In the June 21st edition of The Cut E. Jean Carroll recounts (as an excerpt from her upcoming book What Do We Need Men For?)  with courage, wit, slashing sarcasm and sadness, the stories of  “the 21 most revolting scoundrels I have ever met.

Having worked for, and interviewed, many of the biggest assholes of our time, Carroll had her work cut out for her winnowing that list down.

Matt Lauer, Bill O’Rielly and Charlie Rose were not sufficiently revolting to make the cut.

Hunter S. Thompson, who drunkenly assaulted her in a hot tub and cut her leggings off with a hunting knife while in the throes of an acid trip, was seriously considered, but ultimately rejected.

Mr. hot shot N.Y. City real estate developer, who prior to raping her…

  …“yammers about himself like he’s Alexander the Great ready to loot Babylon…”

does.

The 8 year old boy with “feral gray eyes” who likes to shove thing up her does not make the list for ….reasons.

But his grandfathers and uncles do.

Reasons.

Les Moonves makes the list, as does the Orange asshole, presumably because they were grown ass men who should have known better. Their stories are told within.

But most hideous, perhaps, a trusted summer camp director (who only clocks in at #6)… for his actions after she is crowned Miss Something-or-Other of Camp Runamok:

  

“After they put the papier-mâché crown on my head, the cape on my shoulders, and give me the baton covered in Reynolds Wrap, Old Cam, No. 6 on the Most Hideous Men of My Life List, the waterfront director, takes me out in a boat and runs his hands under my shirt and up my shorts. He is breathing and moving his hand slowly and hotly, and I fight no battles in my head. My mind goes white. This is Cam. This is the man who has watched me grow from an 8-year-old Brownie Scout, and his notice is an honor. This is Cam, who teaches me to swim and dive and awards me the coveted White Cap! This is Cam, who continues to run his hand inside my shorts and under my blouse — even in the dining room during dinner, under the table, squeezing my thighs, shoving his fingers — saying, “You’re my girl. You’re my girl. You’re my girl,” and making me Girl Scout–promise “not to tell anyone.”

I am astonished by what I’m about to write: I keep laughing.

He does this until I go home.

I am 12.”

It is a remarkable read.

If you have the stomach for it.

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3 COMMENTS

  1. I applaud the women who are standing up to tell their stories. This is how we step by step put an end to this.

    I relate in a *very* small way to some of this. I grew up in Portland in the 90’s, and it was a renaissance time for the LGBT community there. We had several underage clubs…places that didn’t serve alcohol so that they were gathering places for LGBT teens. My friends and I started going there when we were fifteen.

    And in that environment I had some experiences with older men. One in particular flirted with me a lot, and that sort of attention can be very empowering for a teen. It made me feel like I was fitting in, and growing up, and in a way it made me feel powerful. He made it a point to show interest in me, and would touch my hair a lot. And then on some occasions he would put his hand up under my shirt, and once down the back of my pants…which was super unwelcome.

    I never felt victimized, so I understand where Carroll is coming from in that regard. I saw the behavior as just “bad behavior,” not abuse. I always felt like talking about this experience in the context of abuse was inappropriate – like it would be taking the spotlight from people who experience truly traumatic assault. Plus I was at a club, where people hook up. Was it really wrong for this guy to test the waters by putting his hand down my pants? But now being older, I understand that yes, it’s super-duper inappropriate for a 35-45 year-old guy to be fondling fifteen year-olds, this is the exact definition of sexual abuse. That’s what this was…minor abuse, but still abusive. He knew I was underage, and he knew it was wrong to interact with me on any sexual level whatsoever.

    This incident is no longer traumatic…so I don’t feel pause to discuss it in the sense that it will bring back bad memories. But what HAS bothered me is how people sometimes react if I talk about this. I wrote about this on Daily Kos, and got some really harsh lectures about the tropes about gay men being pedophiles. Ok…yes…that is wrong, portraying gay men as inherently abusive this way. But LGBT bigotry doesn’t justify dismissing my personal experiences, or the abuse I want to discuss being perpetrated on me.

    So this is a long post, but the point is that these experiences have given me some insight on why women don’t want to come forward. Yeah…when I shared my story, I got the whole asinine, cliche list of typical responses. I was told that I was opening myself to this behavior by being where I was, I was told that I was exaggerating the incident or its impact, and I was even told that I was the real villain, because talking about this behavior is apparently bigotry.

    So I get why women don’t want to come forward. The disgusting behavior of a pig that happened 25 years ago can be waaaaaay easier to cope with than the disgusting behavior of trolls that will descend on you in the here and now if you open your mouth.

  2. I suspect there is a very strong correlation between Republicans, males and females, and sexual abuse. It’s the smile and lie approach to life.

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