Unless you're living under a rock, you've seen about the influx of sexual abuse scandals that have been coming to light over the latter portion of 2017. If you are living under a rock, stay there, because it is madness out here. The most recent accusation and prompt firing has been "The Today Show" host Matt Lauer.
Fans everywhere were shocked and upset at the news. It is now becoming a theme: Harvey Weinstein, Ed Westwick, Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K., Melanie Martinez, and oh, yeah, the president of the United Statesare just parts of a long strong of sexual abuse allegations coming to light, leaving many wondering... who is next?
Here are the people that I absolutely do not want to be seeing similar headlines about next.
1. Literally anybody
Surprise! That is the entire list. Surprisingly, my desire for women to not be sexually assaulted is not heightened or lessened by how much I like the attacker. For those who are nervous that the next on the list of sexual abusers is a celebrity they like, remember that it does not matter if the abuse happened at the hands of your very favorite celebrity or somebody you do not care for at all: Somebody was hurt, humiliated, harassed. Your primary concern, your first thought should not be, "I hope it wasn't by somebody I like!"
I hope no further allegations come to light because I hope that no other people have gone through harassment and humiliation at the hands of their powerful co-workers and have been holding it in in fear and shame... NOT because I have a certain attachment to any of the powerful men involved.
There is no list. There is nobody I'd rather see than somebody else in the headlines because regardless of who it is, somebody went through something terrible for them to end up on the front page. If we continue being more upset over who is in the news instead of why they are there, then we continue to perpetuate the idea that victims should not come forward as to not damage anyone's careers.
The stories and the safety of the brave men and women coming forward are more important than the careers of those powerful yet so cowardly people doing the abusing, no matter who they are.