Of course Cuomo's top cover-up artist was a woman -- sexists have long hid behind complicit women

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Of course Cuomo's top cover-up artist was a woman — sexists have long hid behind complicit women
Why women play along with sexist men

By AMANDA MARCOTTE
PUBLISHED AUGUST 9, 2021 12:58PM


(Salon) After the show "The Handmaid's Tale" debuted, the term "Aunt Lydia" — to describe women who conspire to uphold sexist systems for personal gain — entered the American lexicon, and none too soon. Aunt Lydias have always been with us, of course. They believe it's unlikely that they'll ever see true equality for women in their lifetimes. So rather than fight for a better tomorrow for others, they decide there's a lot to be gained, personally, from complicity. But explaining this complex reality in soundbite-driven American political discourse is always a slog, making "it can't be sexist even if women support it" a disturbingly effective, if incredibly dumb, gambit. It is why sexist men have long employed Aunt Lydias, willing to give a select few women a minor taste of power, so long as they work to keep other women in their place.

The shorthand "Aunt Lydia" was useful to illustrate situations like Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine defending Justice Brett Kavanaugh after accusations of sexual assault, or explain why the anti-choice movement has so many women in it. But for those of us who loved the book long before Ann Dowd's indelible performance as Lydia on the otherwise flawed TV version of "The Handmaid's Tale," the icon of female complicity will always be Serena Joy. In Margaret Atwood's hands, the character is a darkly funny satire of Phyllis Schlafly, the clever and ambitious far-right activist who, in the 70s, realized her only real pathway to power was to become the nation's most prominent anti-feminist. Serena in the novel is Atwood's revenge fantasy on Schlafly. Serena, like Schlafly, rose to power and fame by promoting patriarchy, and her punishment is living in the world she fought so hard to create, where she is shut up in the house, bored and angry, while her husband sleeps with enslaved sex workers.

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All of which is a long way to say that it really should be no surprise that the first head to roll in the sexual harassment scandal in the governor's office of New York does not belong to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the man who is facing an attorney general's report documenting 11 women accusing him of abuses. Cuomo is digging in, determined to survive this through gaslighting and sheer belligerence. Instead, the big resignation news on Monday morning is that of his top aide, Melissa DeRosa, who put out a statement saying "the past two years have been emotionally and mentally trying."

To be clear, DeRosa had it coming. Her name is all over the investigation report released by New York's attorney general, Letitia James. "DeRosa is mentioned by name 187 times — as much as Cuomo," Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post writes, "She is portrayed as a constant force, taking part in an alleged effort to discredit one of his accusers, lining up women and elected officials to defend him and even confronting and chastising the governor about his behavior at one point."

DeRosa is described as going particularly hard after Lindsey Boylan, who was the first woman to accuse Cuomo publicly. DeRosa reportedly demanded Boylan's "full file," with the apparent intent to use the information within to discredit her. DeRosa is also accused of pressuring unrelated government officials to defend Cuomo, spying on other government employees, and trying to kill a story about Cuomo changing promotion rules for state troopers so he could have a specific woman as his bodyguard. That trooper has now accused him of harassment. .................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2021/08/09/of-course-cuomos-top-cover-up-artist-was-a-woman--sexists-have-long-hid-behind-complicit-women/