Why ‘Trust’ Is the Word of the Year
We have learned that when women aren’t trusted, they lose power
Before abortion provider Dr. George Tiller was murdered in a Kansas church in 2009, he was known for wearing a button that simply said “Trust Women.” Of all the bromides we’ve heard about women over the past year — a year when feminism has continued to be the most powerful cultural force — it’s been this phrase, this word, that keeps playing in my mind: trust.
Whether you’re talking about #MeToo (which celebrated its first anniversary this year), inequality in the workplace, reproductive rights, or domestic violence, the foundation of how these issues are handled is trust: Who is given the benefit of the doubt. Whose word is considered more believable. Whose experiences and lives are thought to be the most important.
Who gets trusted determines who gets justice.
When a judge gave convicted rapist Brock Turner three months in jail, it was because he trusted that a young white man had a bright future ahead of him despite his horrific crime. When mostly male legislators write laws that tell women what to do with their bodies, it’s because they don’t trust that we can make those decisions on our own. Studies also show that attitudes about race can affect how a person’s trustworthiness is perceived — bias…
