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‘Not One More Jane Doe’: From Kavanaugh to Cornell, Enough Is Enough

“For the past week, all I can see is red—for the naked distrust and disgust in which women are regarded, and the willingness to believe, vouch for, and dig hard for any rationale to excuse wealthy, privileged men from any shred of accountability.”

I did not write these particular words about The Cornell 7, the fraternity brothers who are the subject of a civil lawsuit and renewed criminal investigation for allegedly raping a fellow student over the course of several hours two years ago and posting in a group chat to invite others to do the same. Among the comments allegedly in their chain: “Free p*ssy upstairs,” “you can walk in and whip it out,” and “shop still open?”

No, the opening paragraph of my column is pulled from a Ms. essay I wrote exactly eight years ago as I watched the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

In 2018 and again in 2026, the country must reckon with establishment-level failure in a sickening pattern of gender-based violence and unabashed patriarchal entitlement—in this case, the university’s tepid response, which included assigning essays to some of the men as part of their punishment, the district attorney’s decision not to prosecute, and the re-opening of the investigation now because of public outrage.

My fury is swelling right now too, but it has a somewhat different flavor than that of 2018. It is the badge of a degraded democracy that the power of certain men will not be held to account.

From the Magazine:

What If the Virgin Mary Had Said No? Hilarious, Heartbreaking Off-Broadway Play ‘The Body of Mary’ Reimagines an Old Story

Through three Marys across centuries, Katie Cappiello’s play uses sharp humor and heartbreak to ask who gets to decide what happens to a woman’s body.

The Body of Mary runs Sept. 8-Oct. 8 at The Gym at Judson in Greenwich Village, New York City.