‘Moment of reckoning for American women’: international Kavanagh headlines point to partisan anger

International headlines paint a picture of partisan fury at the Kavanaugh hearing before the US Senate Judiciary Committee while late night television in the US focused on the testimonies of US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and one of the women accusing him of sexual assault, Christine Blasey Ford.

Late Late Show host James Corden used his monologue to support Blasey Ford.

“If there’s any silver lining to having to go through what she did today, it’s that these experiences that were once shrouded in fear and shame and secrecy for so many people are becoming a movement,” said Corden.

“If this is something you have been through, or are going through, just remember — you are not alone. There are so many people who are standing alongside you right now all over the world,” said Corden.

Stephen Colbert’s monologue on the Late Show ended on an angry note about Kavanaugh’s testimony.

“Please, save your indignation that, finally, someone is taking one woman’s accusation of sexual assault seriously!”

North of the border, an opinion piece in the Globe and Mail Friday morning says the “dam of female rage has burst” while the Toronto Star headlined the contrast between Kavanaugh’s combative fury and the poise of Blasey Ford.

Maclean’s compares Blasey Ford’s testimony to that of Anita Hill’s before the Senate Judiciary Committee 27 years ago, saying both women have walked an impossible knife’s edge.

“You must be polished enough to seem credible, but don’t ever look uppity. You should be emotive so as to elicit sympathy and be believed, but never shade into hysteria. You must have an answer for everything, except when that seems a little too perfect to be trusted. You cannot be some embittered crusader, but also why did you put up with any of this or stick around?” writes Shannon Proudfoot.

Overseas, the BBC calls the Kavanaugh hearing a “moment of reckoning for American women” and a test of how far the #MeToo movement has changed the country.

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