The Forgotten "Person" of the Year

I’m stewing at my desk. I can’t focus, and I’m sure that I haven’t done half of the stuff that I was supposed to do. I have to get this off my chest or else this entire day is going to be hell, which will only be doubled by the fact that it’s wash day.

Provided courtesy of Time, Inc.

So this morning Time Magazine released their “Person of the Year” cover, and I’m livid. I applaud them for making this decision, but their execution of said decision is problematic. Who is front and center of this damn cover? Taylor Swift. Why does America keep trying to shove her down our throats? Time and time again, she has proven that she ain’t shit and that she only does stuff for money and publicity. She’s not a Feminist, she’s a habitual liar and the epitome of white victimhood, she looks dusty, and her hairline is uneven. What more do you need to know? When they put her face on the side of all of the UPS trucks, I stopped talking to my dad, a long time UPS employee, for a solid month because it was totally his fault for allowing them to do that. I say all of this to say: SHE’S TRASH. Darth Becky won’t even denounce the fact that’s been proclaimed the Princess of the Alt-right, but she deserves to stand next to women like Ashley Judd? Ok.

And yes, I understand that she sued a DJ for touching her inappropriately. Good for her. I would never take that away from her because she reclaimed her body in the best way that she knew how. Fine. But as many problems as I have with Rose McGowan, her supposedly “high” tweets, and the Rose Army, she should’ve been on the cover way before Taylor. Maybe even Amber Tamblyn. Or, how about this, and bear with me now, KESHA. You know the same Kesha who said that a man sexually assaulted her and said man dragged her through the mud, completely halted her career, and forced her to take every legal action known to man to try and escape him? The same Kesha who admitted to attempting suicide because of the verbal, mental, physical, and emotional abuse that she suffered at the hands of that jackass. Was she not available? The only reason Kesha should not have been on that cover was if there was a court order that prevented her from speaking about it. THAT’S IT.

And what about Amber Heard? This cover does not acknowledge her trauma. She’s been outspoken about her domestic abuse experiences with Johnny Depp, who has emerged practically unscathed from this entire ordeal. He’s still going to be in movies, and folks have given every excuse under the sun for his behavior. Meanwhile, she’s been publicly shamed and had her sexual identity dragged through the mud. She's donated all of the money to the cause of preventing violence against women, and she’s certainly done way more than Megyn Kelly. MEGYN KELLY?! SERIOUSLY?! 

What really burns the bottom of my freaking biscuits is how women such as Lupita Nyongo and Gabrielle Union did not even earn a spot in this magazine.  Gabrielle Union has been vocal for YEARSSSSSSSSSSSSS about sexual assault, harassment, and the mistreatment of women. Why isn’t she included? And what about Lupita? She shared her story with the public, and HW had the nerve to come out and say that he recalled the events differently. She’s the ONLY accuser that he’s come out against. Why? Because she’s black. The nerve it takes to share your story only for your abuser to come out and call you a lie is the reason that more black women don’t come out. You know it, and I know it. So why didn’t Time take the opportunity to acknowledge her and her trauma?  Why was Tarana Burke, the creator of this #MeToo movement, relegated to a footnote? It’s almost as if you only included her because you had a quota to fulfill or something. I mean, you gave her a few sentences in the cover, but you didn’t even dive down into the history of why she created the movement. I’m just saying, there’s something unclean in the milk about that.  And what about Trace Lysette? You know, the transgender woman who accused Jeffrey Tambor of sexual harassment on the set of Transparent. Was she not listed in the yellow pages or something? Were you unable to find her on Twitter? The amount of courage she had, as a transgender actress, to call out a white man wrongfully playing a transgender woman on her own show is beyond admirable. She deserved to be acknowledged, and Time messed up by not doing so. And whew, there's not enough room on this page to describe why Anita Hill deserves her day in the sun on that damn front cover!

I'm sick and tired of the forward movement of white women being built upon the backs of WOC. This article was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. Last week, I wrote, “#MeToo? Sure, if I’m White,” and this decision by Time just reinforces what I wrote, but I will admit that I’ve learned something. If you don’t fit into their preconceived notions or cookie cutter "white feminist" frame, they will ignore your trauma, even if you’re White. And that’s a shame because it will be your own damn people that do you wrong. I’m thankful that Time decided to make “The Silence Breakers” their Time Person of the Year, but I’m disappointed with their execution. Furthermore, I’m pissed off about the consolation prize that they gave to Donald Trump. What did Nelly say? “Two is not a winner and three nobody remembers?” But I will remember how they chose to name him, a person accused of sexual assault by many women, as the runner up to people who are trying to break the very culture that he promotes and perpetuates.

Finally, I want to say thank you to the Silence Breakers, and to those who weren’t acknowledged by Time, I thank you even more. Why? Because I know how hard it is to suffer and feel like nobody sees you. We, here at the 94%, see you. We see you, and we love you. That’s all.