To say I am disheartened by all the ugly posts today in which women have had negative things to say about the # MeToo messages from last night's Golden Globes, including a lot of victim blaming (things like "They should take responsibility for their 'abuse' by watching what they wear.") is a gross understatement. So many saying the black dresses for solidarity was a "load of crap." So many ugly comments about Oprah's truly powerful and inspirational speech. So many women saying they are tired of celebrities "politicking."

Here's the thing, do you think we'd be seeing the repercussions we are for sexual predators like Harvey Weinstein and Bill O'Reilly now if not for the female celebrities who have spoken out? Their stories are not more important than Jane Smith from Middle of America who has had to put up with the same kind of abuse, but they have a stage and a megaphone that allow the stories of all these women of all backgrounds and locales and experiences to be heard, that allows meaningful change to start. And FYI, celebrities are just people like the rest of us. They are Americans with the same rights, and one of those rights is to speak truth in the hope that it will lead to a better future for everyone. It's one thing to fight against the sexist, victim-blaming attitudes of the men who don't see women as equals, as anything more than objects to fulfill their desires, but to have to hear it from women too against other women just blows my mind. Sometimes women can be their own worst enemies. cocktail formal outfits with long sleeves

The double standard as far as "modest dress" goes just infuriates me. There is an attitude that if a woman doesn't dress "modestly" (i.e. covering up most of her skin), she's asking to be sexually abused at some level because evidently some men do not possess the power to control their animal instincts. You never hear someone saying men should always wear long-sleeve shirts and pants because otherwise women might lose control and attack them.

Oh, and as for the photo being floated around of Oprah with Harvey Weinstein as "evidence" that she knew he was a predator, let me pose this question: Do you know everything that everyone you know does? Of course you don't. It's impossible. What's important is that when you find out that someone you know has done something heinous, you acknowledge that and fight so that that kind of heinousness doesn't happen to anyone again. I know there are rumors flying around that Oprah might run for president, even though to my knowledge she's never said anything like this, but rather the opposite. But whether she does or not, you have to look no further than the comments section on the page of the TV station that was "local" to where I grew up to see we still have a lot of work to do. Among the filth there coming from fellow Americans was "not another black." Good Lord, we have a lot of work to do.