Opinion by: Krystal Ball
Last week when I was listening to Joe Rogan’s interview with Edward Snowden, I was struck in particular by this quote: “We are forced today to live naked before power.” What’s the worst or most embarrassing thing you’ve ever said or done in your life? The worst thing you’ve texted or comment you’ve made? Really take a second to think about it. Now imagine that thing being weaponized by your enemies to destroy your person, your life, your career to humiliate you and put your most intimate and private moments into the forever public square.
I’ve been watching what’s been done to Katie Hill with absolute horror. Hill stands accused of having a consensual relationship with a staffer. Poor judgment, absolutely, especially when you are the boss obviously there is a power dynamic at play that is not ok. But let’s be honest, that’s not the reason Congresswoman Hill resigned.
No, Katie Hill resigned because a bunch of moralizing, hypocritical and potentially criminal smear artists decided to rip her clothes off in the public square by posting nude photos without her consent. Let’s be real people. It is cancel culture gone completely wild. She was humiliated and shamed out of office as part of an intentional campaign of abuse. There was no public service value in this. This wasn’t about power dynamics in the workplace. It wasn’t necessary or journalistic. It was cruel. Dehumanizing, disgusting, and awful. Doing violence not only to Ms. Hill but to the millions of women and plenty of men out there too who have nudes or a kink or a non-conventional relationship or an asshole abusive ex who is seeking vengeance. They have now been put on notice that daring to step into public life means risking being subjected to a collective national shaming.
We also just learned that apparently GOP operatives had over 700 revenge porn pics just ready to go. To drop one by one to a leering audience to be passed around and debated. Maybe this week it’s boobs. Next week ass. Next week actual sex. I can’t say she shouldn’t have resigned. What would you do? I think I’d probably resign too even though it means letting the cruelty win. I just don’t think I could withstand that kind of psychological torture and remain remotely in tact. Not to mention what it would mean for the young staffers who have of course been dragged into all of this.
I know the tiniest bit of what this all feels like. Most of you probably already know this but for those who don’t, I was a bit of a trailblazer in the field of salacious photos released without consent. When I ran for congress at the age of 28 a blogger posted party photos of me fully clothed, and of age, goofing around with sex toys. The whole episode feels incredible quaint now but for a brief moment I was one of the most googled people in the world and every news outlet from the junk to the staid networks used it as an excuse to publish those photos and ask whether this was conduct fitting of a potential member of Congress. Here I am having a wonderful time talking about these dumb photos in my very first tv interview ever. Funny enough, it was with Ryan Nobles who is now at CNN.
After I gathered my thoughts, I also wrote an op-ed for The Huffington Post about the bullshit idea that women can’t be both powerful and sexual.
Here in part is what I said about why I decided to fight back rather than take the advice of my consultants and try to hide my head until the storm blew over.
“I realized that photos like the ones of me, and ones much racier, would end up coming into the public sphere when women of my generation run for office. And I knew that there could be no other answer to the question than this: society has to accept that women of my generation have sexual lives that are going to leak into the public sphere. Sooner or later, this is a reality that has to be faced, or many young women in my generation will not be able to run for office.”
Well here we are. Look, I understand why some of my friends on the left have supported Hill’s resignation. Katie Hill is certainly far from perfect. And sexual relationships, even consensual ones, with junior staffers are inappropriate and potentially an abuse of power. But let’s not pretend that her resignation actually has anything to do with an affair. Just like the release of my photos, it has everything to do with partisan power-grabbing and shame. No revenge porn. No resignation. That is the bottom line. And it sure would be nice to see our historic first woman Speaker say something in support of all of us women out there with nudes.
To my friends on the right, Katie Hill’s national shaming is as much an example of an out of control cancel culture as anything that we’ve seen. Complete with moral panic and faux outrage from people who don’t care one bit about consent and power dynamics in the workplace. You may delight in seeing Katie Hill brought low but do you really want to live by the standards being set by this example? Where any sexual or me too infraction no matter how small can be used as justification for ritualistic humiliation which will exist on the internet forever?
So allow me to say loud and clear. I’m a woman. I’ve certainly made mistakes. And I stand with Katie. All of the faux puritanical moralizers can take a seat.
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