On the corner of 4th St. and Main St., downtown Chico during Women’s March 2018.

I saw him standing on the corner of 4th and Main Sts. in downtown Chico on January 20th during this year’s Women’s March for Women’s Rights, Human Rights and Unity. His sign and the sneering smile on his face told me what he thinks of women. Particularly offensive is the sign’s reference to a speculum, a medical instrument used for examinations that saves women’s lives, but here he was using it and the humiliating “C” word to abuse, denigrate, insult and express his hatred of women. And contrary to the sign’s assertion, women don’t want “extra rights.” We want, no, we demand, that the laws of human rights that already exist be enforced: namely, the right to govern our own bodies and the right to not be sexually harassed, raped and/or physically abused by men.

At the time, I didn’t want other women, especially young women, to see him and his ugly sign because I didn’t want them to feel the anger and humiliation I was feeling. But one young woman did see him and confronted him, and another older woman walked by and spit on him. I too was so revolted by him that I felt nauseated and didn’t know what to do, so I simply took his photo and subsequently filed it away. Now for the first time I’ve shared it so others might see what I and the other women marchers were subjected to that day.

I knew I had witnessed a graphic instance of misogyny, but I wasn’t exactly sure what the word “misogyny” meant so I looked it up in 3 different dictionaries. They all gave the same definition: “hatred of women.” Such hatred is so prevalent and has been going on for so long that a special word was coined to express it. In contrast, I don’t know of any word that expressly describes a “hatred of men.”

Then, on October 6th, 2018, I witnessed another instance of blatant misogyny on a much larger and even more consequential scale, when the U.S. Senate, dominated by old, Republican, white men, chose to ignore the credible, heartfelt testimony of Christine Blasey Ford in a rush to confirm her accused sexual predator, Brett Kavanaugh, to a lifetime position on the United States Supreme Court. It’s obvious from the perfunctory FBI investigation that the Republican Senate majority didn’t want to get to the truth because it would have interfered with the confirmation of one more Republican right wing extremist to the U.S. Supreme Court. Watching this, I once again felt a renewed anger and humiliation welling up in me that I felt confronting the kid with the sign, and that’s when I remembered the photo. Which I now publish for the sake of Christine Blasey Ford and for all others who have suffered sexual assault and for those women and men who march on their behalf.

From official website, Senator Chuck Grassley: “Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led the most transparent Supreme Court confirmation process in history for nominee Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh.”

From official website, Senator Orrin Hatch: “Brett Kavanaugh will be a great Supreme Court judge and I am so very glad to have been able to help confirm him as one of my final acts as a US. Senator.”

Official portrait, Senator Mitch McConnell: “Judge Brett Kavanaugh is among the very best our country has to offer.”

From CNN’s live stream of Brett Kavanaugh’s opening statement: “This whole 2 week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated [Democrat] political hit.”

Christine Blasey Ford testimony from CNN stream: “I’m not here because I want to be. I’m terrified. I’m here because I believe it’s my civic duty to tell what happened to me.”

Official portrait, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, current Supreme Court Justice. Quote from documentary, RBG:  “I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet of our necks.”