Patriarchal Affinity: trust me
Nice guys can be trusted.
Utahns were reminded this week that, not only should nice guys be trusted, they shouldn’t be questioned. If certitude of character is conflated with friendship and longevity, then take it from the longest-serving Republican Senator in the history of the United States, Orrin Hatch.
Hatch made headlines this week for his comments in the hallway of the Senate Judiciary Committee, when he told CNN that he thought Dr. Christine Blasey Ford made an “attractive” and “pleasing” witness. His remarks were in reaction to Ford’s allegations and testimony that Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, sexually assaulted her in high school.
News outlets quickly circulated the story about the Utah Republican Senator’s remarks, criticizing the tone-deaf remarks as sexist and objectifying. Senator Hatch’s staff responded by saying, "Hatch uses 'attractive' to describe personalities, not appearances…. If you search his past quotes you'll see he's used it consistently for years for men and women he believed has compelling personalities."
Few outlets, however, picked up on phrases that are familiar to both Utahns and members of Utah’s dominant religion, the Mormon faith. Hatch, a lifelong Mormon, testified for nearly twelve minutes about the sterling character of Kavanaugh, amid shouts from protestors (Hatch dismissed the female protestors as “loudmouth[s]” and “insolence.”). He noted this was his 15th and final Supreme Court confirmation hearing and, in that time, he had learned to notice a good candidate from a bad one.
“I know a good nominee when I see one. And you are a great nominee. I don’t think there’s any question about it. I’ve known you for a long time,” said Hatch.
This statement is important because it gives insight into how someone like Hatch not only retains power, but protects it. His repeated assertion is that his association with Kavanaugh is evidence that he can be trusted and that he shouldn’t be questioned.
It’s interesting to note that Hatch’s Mormon faith has been under fire this year for multiple allegations of sexual abuse, misconduct, and cover-ups within the institution. One prominent story broke earlier this year with a leak of former Mormon Missionary Training Center President, Joseph Bishop, admitting on tape that he “molested” young women in his care. Although Bishop was recorded admitting to misconduct on tape, defenders were quick to note that he was a good man with a long history of service in the Church.
Other noteworthy stories in 2018 included the tragic account of nine children in West Virginia who were sexually abused by a trusted Sunday School teacher and a California Bishop who abused two girls in his congregation. When trusted leaders in tight-knit communities are accused of such crimes, often the outside world is left asking, “How can this happen?”
Hatch’s comments shed some insight on precisely how abuse is overlooked and even thrives in communities that rely on trust and affinity for men in authority positions.
Hatch highlighted this phenomenon earlier this year when he talked about allegations of abuse by Rob Porter. Porter, also a Mormon, is a former political aide who served as White House Staff Secretary for President Donald Trump and, before that, a Chief of Staff for Hatch. Porter stepped down after both of his ex-wives accused him of physical and emotional abuse in February 2018.
Hatch said,“I know Rob. I’ve known him for years, both as a close friend and as a personal adviser. He is kind and considerate towards all. The country needs more honest, principled people like Rob Porter, which is why I hope that this cynical campaign to discredit his character ultimately fails.”
Hatch later apologized for these remarks.
These attitudes shine light on a striking pattern, not only for Hatch, but for other Mormons and men in power who rely on close associations to save them from accountability and misdeeds. Let’s call it Patriarchal Affinity.
Mormon men and women are taught from an early age to respect men in authority. What this looks like on the ground is men who wear nice suits and ties, who know how to smile and cry at appropriate times, and who are particularly held up as trusted men ordained by God. Although Kavanaugh is not a Mormon, he represented these qualities as he gave a tearful testimony on Thursday.
Hatch noted that Judge Kavanaugh coached the local sports team in his community, that he was well-educated and respected, and that he was a nice guy. Is a nice guy capable of being the monster who held Ford down in the early 1980’s, restricting her airway and groping her?
Hatch doesn’t think so. He is a multi-generational Mormon with ancestors that date back to the founding of the Mormon Church. His success is, in large part, due to the fraternity of Mormon associations and closed-door meetings with high-ranking church officials. It is no surprise, then, that Hatch relies on these interlocking systems of camaraderie to engage both at home and in Washington. These systems of male bonding and authority are complex and deeply interwoven into the Utah political landscape.
When you know someone closely, it is hard to see them outside the scope of your own relationship. Hatch’s entire system of engagement depends on repeated bonding with other men in power. He forges these relationships in meetings, in worship, and in religious service projects, making him part of a sacred order of trust.
This affinity becomes a mask in the fraternal order of men in power. There is a code in which the men you worship and work with are safe to you and, therefore, they are safe to others.
This might explain why, when allegations are levied against one powerful man, in his freshly-pressed suit and nice haircut, other men will jump to his aid. It is precisely their affinity for maleness, their saturation in patriarchy (a predominantly white patriarchy) that allows them to comfortably trust these men in a familiar costume of power.
Hatch would further compound the issue by signaling religious language at the hearing, noting that critics of Kavanaugh tried to paint him as one of the “four horsemen of the apocalypse,” suggesting that the critiques were “nonsense” and not to be taken seriously. Again, this amplifies the idea that outsiders are misguided, their opinions don’t carry weight, and that casting doubt on tried and true power players is absurd.
Last month, Hatch told NBC News’ Leigh Ann Caldwell that if the allegations against Kavanaugh turned out to be true, “I think it would be hard for senators not to consider who he is today.”
Perhaps men who work in close association, and predominantly, with other men won’t be alarmed at such statements. They might even slip by without notice. But, women who work in these spaces hear something different. They signal to women, to victims, and to the vulnerable, who is untouchable and who can act without reproach. It is understood that it is the good men, the nice guys, that associate within circles of power that cannot be challenged. Hatch and his colleagues speak so comfortably in the language of power that they’ve forgotten how to speak to those not in power.
Orrin Hatch represents 1.3 million Utah women. Yet, he shows little care for them. His track record reflects someone who is used to working in and around male spaces, reflecting a point of view that is blind to the experience of other genders. Consider these troubling remarks he made about rape in 1993:
“Say you have a man who believes a woman is attractive. He feels encouraged by her and he’s so motivated by that encouragement that he rips her clothes off and has sex with her against her will. Now let’s say you have another man who grabs a woman off some lonely road and in the process of raping her says words like, “You’re wearing a skirt! You’re a woman! I hate women! I’m going to show you, you woman!” Now, the first one’s terrible. But, the other’s much worse. If a man rapes a woman while telling her he loves her, that’s a far cry from saying he hates her. A lust factor does not spring from animus.”
(Orrin Hatch, U.S. Senate, quotes by Shalit, 1993, p. 7B).
Again, Hatch relies on the motivations of a man to exonerate him, with little care for the impact of his actions. If a man loves a woman and rapes her, can we really fault him the same way? The patriarchal lens again affords women and victims very little acknowledgement into the weight they experienced from the assault.
Hatch ended his remarks at Kavanaugh’s hearing by noting, “Those who know Judge Kavanaugh hold him in highest regard.”
This seems to be true for the many Republican Senators on the hearing floor that day. It does not, however, seem to be the case for Dr. Ford and women like her, who have also known Kavanaugh for years and, yet, somehow manage to tell a different story.