Amy Richards is a reporter for Elle. The following viewpoints belong to her. Legal scholar Patricia J. Williams says, “We do Anita Hill an injustice if we freeze her in time as an icon of the hearings, or the symbol of a single event.” Hill was so much more than the the woman in the blue dress testifying. It’s something that is now worrisome about for Dr. Ford. In the absence of the “burden of proof” promised by the court, women who accuse men of sexual misconduct bear the burden of their doubters. They face new levels of media exposure. They have to live with accusations that they have in turn “ruined” someone’s life and reputation.
