Kat Tenbarge

Our TV has started a really fun new thing where every night at exactly 10:53 it starts blaring an advertisement. We do not turn it on and in fact that screen doesn’t turn on it just plays audio

I left X almost exactly two years ago because of the violent, celebrated rape culture that was dominating the platform. Two years later, I’m undeniably better off, and the culture around sexual violence at large is arguably worse. I believe X has played a serious role in that.

Even though X is much smaller than other social media platforms, the fact that it’s the world’s richest man’s platform and is still used by many other powerful figures and groups makes it highly influential. And it’s a toxic waste dump. You can see how that spirals out.

I left X almost exactly two years ago because of the violent, celebrated rape culture that was dominating the platform. Two years later, I’m undeniably better off, and the culture around sexual violence at large is arguably worse. I believe X has played a serious role in that.

I saw an early screening of the 4-hour Elon Musk documentary, and he's calling it a "hit piece" because it's a damning compendium of some of his most egregious manipulation and cruelty. My question is whether the Ellisons will spike it before it ever gets to HBO. spitfirenews.com/p/elon-musk-...

I also saw a post-screening Q&A with Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Musk's young children. She was flanked by bodyguards and we all had to pass through a security screening. After she refused to sign an NDA, Musk revoked most of the financial support he'd offered her and harassment followed.

Just a reminder that people don’t always realize they were raped in the immediate aftermath. It can take hours, days, months, and even years to realize you were raped, and it doesn’t make it any less true. There are many kinds of responses, including fawning and trying to appease your rapist

In the legal system and in these mainstream commentary spaces, victims’ post-assault behavior is positioned as evidence of them lying, so that any feminist response to the crisis of sexual assault brought on by these high-profile cases can be deemed hysterical and unnecessary.

Just a reminder that people don’t always realize they were raped in the immediate aftermath. It can take hours, days, months, and even years to realize you were raped, and it doesn’t make it any less true. There are many kinds of responses, including fawning and trying to appease your rapist

People are spinning the narrative that the Cornell victim consensually participated in group sex and changed her story later because she faced social ostracism. A lot of this is cherry-picking texts, but in reality a lot of victims initially claim they weren’t abused or raped as a coping mechanism

So many of the same “intellectuals” who are obsessed with undermining the existence of trans people are also obsessed with undermining the Cornell rape victim’s testimony. It’s almost like they don’t believe people have a right to bodily autonomy

A truly heinous man has doxxed the Cornell victim on X and the comments are predictably vile. Based on countless interviews I’ve done with survivors, the trauma they are subjected to for coming forward is oftentimes even worse than the initial trauma they experienced. There is no real justice system

Seeing people post about how unfair the “mob justice” against the Cornell rapists is doesn’t really move me when there is no justice for survivors. The system doesn’t work; it enacts further punishment on the victims. Society is even crueler. So spare me the “mob justice” rhetoric about the accused

Another thing about fraternities is that the hazing rituals where slightly older young men would physically, mentally emotionally and sometimes even sexually abuse slightly younger young men have always disturbed and upset me greatly. And it’s really telling that I’ve seen men defend those too

I believe fraternity hazing and military hazing and sports team hazing where men abuse each other is acclimating them into a broader culture of abuse where they will then believe it is their right to abuse other more vulnerable people. It’s so insidious. And that’s also why I think men defend it

Another thing about fraternities is that the hazing rituals where slightly older young men would physically, mentally emotionally and sometimes even sexually abuse slightly younger young men have always disturbed and upset me greatly. And it’s really telling that I’ve seen men defend those too

For me, the hardest thing about stories like the Cornell gang rape case isn’t reading the initial details—although that is hard. What’s even harder is when men online, especially the journalists and pundits, start trying to combat the feminist outrage by purposefully seeding doubt and victim-blaming

THIS is an instrumental part of rape culture. This is the wider societal enabling of rape and smearing victims. This is what survivors often identify as the most traumatic part of the experience, and as a journalist who believes survivors I can say it’s one of the worst parts for me, too

For me, the hardest thing about stories like the Cornell gang rape case isn’t reading the initial details—although that is hard. What’s even harder is when men online, especially the journalists and pundits, start trying to combat the feminist outrage by purposefully seeding doubt and victim-blaming

The shame and smear anyone who has an emotional reaction to the case and especially anyone who chooses to believe the victim based on her word. They consider believing survivors to be the ultimate sin because it actually threatens the status quo where only victims of rape and sexual violence lose

For me, the hardest thing about stories like the Cornell gang rape case isn’t reading the initial details—although that is hard. What’s even harder is when men online, especially the journalists and pundits, start trying to combat the feminist outrage by purposefully seeding doubt and victim-blaming