"I tell my friends and loved ones that i was sexually assaulted, and the result is a surge of pity for the perpetrator," she says. "My own mother's strongest tonal response when she learned what he had done to me was extreme pity from matthew." A big part of the reason i didn't tell anyone right away was that i wanted to protect matthew. But perhaps worth meditating on a moment.
Several years after Janey was sexually assaulted by her former boyfriend, Mathew, she told some of her closest friends, and her mother, what Mathew had done. Janey was so troubled by her loved ones’ responses that she went back to them years later to record conversations about it all. In this episode: Janey’s story, and philosopher Kate Manne, who coined the term “himpathy” in her 2017 book, “Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny.” With co-hosts John Biewen and Celeste Headlee. Part of our summer mini-season of rebroadcasts.
To hear more of Janey Williams’ story and the conversations she had with friends, check out her podcast, "This Happened", available on most podcast apps and at thishappenedpodcast.com.