The other day, my teacher asked the class how we perceived this Kavanaugh debacle. 

“Innocent!” three boys cried. Clearly some people don’t believe survivors. I didn’t think much of it, though. These children had the most backwards views in the class. I expected no less.  

I didn’t expect what came next. One of the boys followed up his bold claim with “he just groped her, anyway. It’s not that big of a deal.” 

No, this is a big deal. A huge deal, actually. I’m not talking about how big of a deal it is that a probable sex offender now sits on the highest court of the United States, nor am I referring to how critical it is that he shifts the balance of said court insurmountably in favor of conservatives. I’m not even talking about Kavanagh’s vendetta against Roe v. Wade and the possibility that the precedent it set will be totally erased. 

It is a huge deal that as far as we think we’ve come with #MeToo and the Women’s March, these feminist movements are being attacked daily by our youth. Just look at Twitter, Reddit, or YouTube comments. All someone has to do is suggest sympathy for feminism and they’re ridiculed.  

For example, here are actual quotes I found on social media on subredit called “Anti-Feminists.”  

“Another idea I had was to show how risky sex with a feminist is. You run the risk of STDs,                    impregnating an un-marriagable woman…and false rape allegations if the relationship doesn’t go well.” 

“This is what women get up to while men are at work.” 

“[Sexual assault is] not the problem of men.” 

One user shared a picture implying that famous feminist comedian Amy Schumer is part pig. Another shared a picture implying that all feminists are overweight. 

In a way, the kid in my class was right. The big deal isn’t that Brett Kavanaugh is on the Supreme Court or even whether he sexually assaulted Dr. Ford. The big deal is that if he was found guilty he would still have an army of men supporting him, including our teenage boys.