Tiger Beatdown

Here’s the thing. Michael Moore has DEMONSTRATED an unwillingness to engage, or even to apologize, for what he did wrong that sparked #MooreandMe. The likelihood that he’ll donate $20K to an anti-sexual assault organization? It is very, very low. Because Michael Moore’s actions indicate that rape survivors just don’t mean as much to Michael Moore as Julian Assange getting bail. They just don’t. He has assigned a demonstrable, monetary value to these two causes, and as far as we know, Assange is worth $20,000 and providing necessary aid to sexual assault survivors is worth $0.

But sexual assault survivors mean something to me. And to you. Probably none of us have $20,000 — my average monthly income is less than a tenth of that amount. But I have enough money to support rape survivors. To assign them a demonstrable, monetary value, and go without the almond pear brioches from Bakeway (NOOO THEY’RE SO DELICIOUS) and make my own coffee instead of buying it from coffee shops, for a little while. Which is why I just donated $50 to RAINN.

We’re being accused of being far-right-wing operatives, of trying to build our own fame by attacking left-wing celebrities, of being bitches and cunts and liars and haters of freedom and the truth and the right of the people to engage in activism, and none of that matters, because we know who we are: We’re the people who stand in support of rape survivors against rape. And against the culture that smears rape survivors, harasses them, attacks them, threatens them, or treats them as expendable, especially when those rape survivors are socially marginalized, and especially when their rapists are powerful men.

This is why I’m asking everyone who cares about #MooreandMe to treat it, not as a spectator sport, not as a diversion, not just as something you do to put pressure on rape apologists, but as a way for you, you personally, to support organizations that provide aid to sexual assault survivors.

I chose to donate to RAINN, because they’re one of the largest and most wide-reaching sexual assault organizations, and because, until December 31, donations will be matched. Therefore, as I understand it, my $50 donation made $100 for the organization. A Twitter follower mentioned donating $20, which means we’ve already made $140 through #MooreandMe.

How much more can we raise? How much value can we demonstrably, actually, monetarily place on the aid and support of sexual assault survivors? Could we make $20,000 — the amount Moore posted for Assange’s bail? Could we make $315,000 — the total amount of Assange’s bail? I don’t know. Do the thousands of people who know about #MooreandMe care about rape survivors as much as Michael Moore and a handful of other extremely rich celebrities care about bailing out Assange?

No matter how much we can raise, it won’t be enough. But by donating, we demonstrate two things: First, that every rape survivor, every rape survivor, is exactly as important as this one WikiLeaks member (and keep in mind that the organization of WikiLeaks, no matter how you feel about it, could in fact keep going without Assange). Second, we communicate the same thing we’ve been saying all along, which is: If you are a rape survivor, we have your back. We care. We don’t care who comes at you, or how hostile the culture is to you, or who you are: We care about you, about your right to live in a world without rape culture or rape apologism, about dismantling rape culture and rape apologism, about providing you with the support and resources you need, about opposing those who would smear or endanger or hurt you, and just, basically, making sure that if you need a hand we will give it. We care about you.

We are going to keep pressuring Michael Moore (@MMFlint! #MooreandMe!) for an apology, an explanation, and a donation of $20,000. But we can help rape victims, too.

I’m asking everybody who supports #MooreandMe to donate to an anti-sexual-assault organization, as much as they can (and trust me, I get not having cash. But you probably have at least some cash. You probably have $5, or $10, or $20, or $50 — and maybe, like Michael Moore, you’re one of the lucky few who has more) and record how much they donated, publicly, so that we can see how much this one wacky fringe-dwelling man-hating Internet feminist protest has been able to raise, in terms of actual financial support for the organizations that help rape survivors.

The link to donate to RAINN is here. No matter how much harm Michael Moore or Keith Olbermann cause with their massive funds and massive influence, we can still do good. And as this whole thing has demonstrated, when we operate together, we are way more powerful than anyone expects.