Thanks to the revelations concerning Harvey Weinstein’s sexual and criminal behavior, innumerable women are coming forward to tell of their own experiences of being sexually harassed/preyed upon by men.
The problem with this is that it’s hard to separate fact from fiction, as many of the claims of abuse are anything but or completely unfounded. The #MeToo campaign has given license for attention seekers to exaggerate or fabricate stories of victimhood as a means to garner sympathy and attention.
It’s taboo to even suggest that women would lie about such offenses, but the harsh truth is that in this day in age, false accusations are a serious problem. The latest “high profile” #MeToo band-wagoner took to Instagram this week where she accused 94-year old former President George H.W. Bush of sexual assault from his wheelchair.
As reported at the Daily Mail, actress Heather Lind recounted her supposed experience in a long Instagram post, saying that Bush “touched her from behind” and told her a dirty joke. Considering he’s wheelchair-bound and barely lucid and able to move on his own, there are few other places he can touch a person to get their attention or to put his arm against to take a picture, assuming her claims are even accurate.
Lind’s claims have been blowing up across the web, so much so that the former president has decided to issue an apology for the supposed abuse.
In a statement to DailyMail.com the former president responded: “President Bush would never – under any circumstance – intentionally cause anyone distress, and he most sincerely apologizes if his attempt at humor offended Ms. Lind.”
One wonders how Lind will respond to the apology. She’s gotten what she’s wanted out of her accusation, attention, so it’ll be interesting if she tries to milk this even more and refuses to accept the apology.
In her post about the harrowing ordeal, Lind sure seemed to be propping herself up as some kind of survivor of actual abuse. The way she recounted her experience is a slap in the face to women who actually are victims of real incidences of sexual abuse and violence. Some senile old man “touching you from behind,” whatever that means, can hardly be considered assault of any kind. It doesn’t matter if she truly feels it was, we shouldn’t just humor her delusion and pretend that what she claims happened constitutes assault.
The most disturbing element of this ordeal is that in her post, she made it seem like she was so deeply affected by the “assault” that she needed support to get over the trauma. We’re supposed to respond to such a claim with a “You go girl!” and “How brave!” but we really should be responding with concern that someone could be so mentally fragile. Again, this is assuming everything she said is true. Needless to say, she’s gotten what she’s wanted–the spotlight.
Maybe her attention-seeking effort will land her a new job as an extra in the next Sharknado film.
Source: Daily Mail