<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Feminist Philosophers]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://feministphilosophers.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[magicalersatz]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://feministphilosophers.wordpress.com/author/magicalersatz/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Cosby victim speaks&nbsp;out]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>There&#8217;s <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/11/13/bill-cosby-raped-me-why-did-it-take-30-years-for-people-to-believe-my-story/">an op-ed in today&#8217;s Washington Post</a> by Barbara Bowman, one of the many women who has accused Bill Cosby of rape. She writes:</p>
<blockquote><p>Only after a <em>man</em>, Hannibal Buress, called Bill Cosby a rapist in a comedy act last month did <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/10/31/after-jian-ghomeshi-is-the-world-finally-starting-to-turn-against-bill-cosby/" target="_blank">the public outcry</a> begin in earnest. The <a href="http://www.phillymag.com/ticket/2014/10/17/hannibal-buress-bill-cosby-rapist/" target="_blank">original video</a> of Buress’s performance went viral. This week, Twitter turned against him, too, with <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23CosbyMeme&amp;src=tyah" target="_blank">a meme</a> that emblazoned rape scenarios across pictures of his face. . .</p>
<p>While I am grateful for the new attention to Cosby’s crimes, I must ask my own questions: Why wasn’t <em>I</em> believed? Why didn’t <em>I</em> get the same reaction of shock and revulsion when I originally reported it? Why was <em>I</em>, a victim of sexual assault, <a href="https://twitter.com/TeraThomas/status/532289168660234241" target="_blank">further wronged</a> by <a href="https://twitter.com/ericp_wilson/status/529767552893730819" target="_blank">victim blaming</a> when I came forward? <a href="http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/11/bill_cosby_timeline_of_sexual_assault_accusations.html" target="_blank">The women victimized by Bill Cosby have been talking about his crimes for more than a decade</a>. Why didn’t <em>our</em> stories go viral?</p></blockquote>
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