The Benefit of Sympathy

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The benefit sympathy, they just don't extend to men of color in anything like the same way that they extend to white men. An allegation of sexual assault by a black man, especially against a white woman, has often meant a quick death sentence when it comes to white dewed perpetrators. But why would lots of women have this impulse too? That's part of what janie wanted to know in having these conversations with her friends.

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.