“A picture is worth a thousand words”. Together with this sentence, the Family Counselor of the Community of Madrid, dancausa shellshared a cartoon that represents the Lady of justice violated and gagged. Two of her arms keep her forced to the ground: one covers her mouth and the other catches the hand in which rests the scale that symbolizes her equity.
The member of the Cabinet of Isabel Diaz Ayuso has charged with this manipulated cartoon against the Government, because on the sleeves of the individual who is committing the aggression appear the words “PSOE” and “We can”, terms that are not in the original part. Not to mention another detail: the shirt cuffs appear clean, which differs from the authentic work. This is essential to understand the meaning that the author wanted to convey, who precisely criticized the right-wing in the United States and the judges of that country for a case of sexual assault.
Later, another account has responded to Dancausa, pointing out that the original image is another in which the same scene appears, but this time the piece is inverted and two flags of Spain appear on the cuffs of the shirt respectively. Well, neither the first nor the second obey reality. The creator, Bruce McKinnonwanted to portray one of the most mediatic cases in the United States about machismo, justice and institutional impunity.
The Christine Blasey Ford Story
It all started in 2018, when Christine Blasey Forda university professor and psychologist, accused of sexual assault brett kavanaugh, then nominated by former US President Donald Trump to the US Supreme Court. During a US Senate hearing, Ford testified before a committee of senators about her allegation, explaining that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her when they were both teenagers, in 1982. Despite intense media attention and political pressure, Ford maintained his story and offered concrete details about the assault.
The teacher denounced the sexual violence and abuse of power exercised by the judge. Ford explained how Kavanaugh and another man had dragged her into a room at a party. The defendant tried to remove her clothes and cover her mouth when she tried to scream, just like in the aforementioned cartoon. Ford believed that she was going to be raped and feared for her life. She nonetheless managed to escape from it, but she has mourned the emotional and psychological scars she suffered for decades after the incident.
Despite his testimony, Kavanaugh was confirmed as a Supreme Court justice. Since then, Ford has been a leading figure in the movement. MeToo and has received numerous awards and recognitions for her courage in speaking out about her case. The accusations by Blasey Ford and other witnesses that were presented during the trial contributed to the spotlight on sexual assaults and consent.
Canadian cartoonist Bruce MacKinnon acknowledged that he was “shocked” by Ford’s story. He admitted in an interview that he “was quite fascinated” and that the woman’s statement “hit him very hard”, so he decided to create the cartoon to strike “a little harder”. That case put the Republican Party on the ropes, as its leader, Donald Trump, defended tooth and nail the judge appointed to the Supreme Court while attacking Ford.
the artist of Chronicle Herald finally he drew a caricature that showed the Lady of Justice, lying on the ground and violated, grabbed by two arms. In the cuffs of her shirts appears the logo of the republican party. The author sought to represent the anguish that Ford suffered and how the institutions, especially the courts, turned their backs on him. The cartoon has already become a symbol used in feminist demonstrations in the United States, something that is far from the meaning that Ayuso’s counselor has tried to install from her social network to criticize the coalition government.
