Nicole Bedera
@nbedera.bsky.social
Sociologist studying how our social structures make sexual violence more likely to occur. Author of ON THE WRONG SIDE. Co-founder of Beyond Compliance Consulting. PhD UMich.
Reposted by Nicole Bedera
The thing about cruelty and inhumanity is that the limits of who is affected keep expanding and expanding until we shove it back the other way
James Van Der Beek is auctioning off ‘Dawson’s Creek’ and ‘Varsity Blues’ merchandise to pay for his cancer treatments.
James Van Der Beek Sells Dawson’s Creek Merch to Pay for Cancer Treatment
James Van Der Beek is auctioning off ‘Dawson’s Creek’ and ‘Varsity Blues’ merchandise to pay for his cancer treatments.
www.vulture.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:09 PM
The thing about cruelty and inhumanity is that the limits of who is affected keep expanding and expanding until we shove it back the other way
Trump first brought this approach to college campuses where rapists are now entitled to benefits if they’re accused of sexual assault.
Things like a higher GPA and preferential treatment by professors. In my research, I heard stories of financial compensation too.
Things like a higher GPA and preferential treatment by professors. In my research, I heard stories of financial compensation too.
I feel like Trump has pioneered a new form of spoils, where criminal allies of the President can expect to be compensated for their crimes.
The settlement talks between the Trump administration and Michael Flynn and Stefan Passantino marked a change in position by DOJ, which previously had successfully argued in court to have both of their lawsuits tossed out
bit.ly/4hWdolc
bit.ly/4hWdolc
November 14, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Trump first brought this approach to college campuses where rapists are now entitled to benefits if they’re accused of sexual assault.
Things like a higher GPA and preferential treatment by professors. In my research, I heard stories of financial compensation too.
Things like a higher GPA and preferential treatment by professors. In my research, I heard stories of financial compensation too.
There’s something extremely gross in the way some of the people on here are gleefully posting about Epstein.
Like they completely forgot that this is a story about child rape, hundreds of survivors, and a bunch of misogynists in power who are stripping women (and children!) of their legal rights.
Like they completely forgot that this is a story about child rape, hundreds of survivors, and a bunch of misogynists in power who are stripping women (and children!) of their legal rights.
November 14, 2025 at 4:48 PM
There’s something extremely gross in the way some of the people on here are gleefully posting about Epstein.
Like they completely forgot that this is a story about child rape, hundreds of survivors, and a bunch of misogynists in power who are stripping women (and children!) of their legal rights.
Like they completely forgot that this is a story about child rape, hundreds of survivors, and a bunch of misogynists in power who are stripping women (and children!) of their legal rights.
Reposted by Nicole Bedera
People employ absurd, grotesque victim-blaming logic that even they don’t really believe as part of a global gaslighting effort to make victims blame themselves first and foremost and not even seek accountability or expose these crimes in the first place. And it works like a charm
November 14, 2025 at 4:42 PM
People employ absurd, grotesque victim-blaming logic that even they don’t really believe as part of a global gaslighting effort to make victims blame themselves first and foremost and not even seek accountability or expose these crimes in the first place. And it works like a charm
Reposted by Nicole Bedera
I think it’s an understandable impulse to blame corporate greed (bc it’s there) but it also elides the desire for vengeance and pain and racism that really underlies it. No one actually cares about cost at the end of the day.
People pushing all of the sins of the carceral state on “private prisons” in order to shift the conversation around policing and prisons into one about greedy corporations has been a very counterproductive narrative.
November 14, 2025 at 3:36 PM
I think it’s an understandable impulse to blame corporate greed (bc it’s there) but it also elides the desire for vengeance and pain and racism that really underlies it. No one actually cares about cost at the end of the day.
Reposted by Nicole Bedera
So there’s a lawyer going around BlueSky right now responding to everyone talking about the Anthropic book settlement by (1) urging people to opt out and (2) saying that they are representing authors who are opting out.
November 14, 2025 at 3:22 PM
So there’s a lawyer going around BlueSky right now responding to everyone talking about the Anthropic book settlement by (1) urging people to opt out and (2) saying that they are representing authors who are opting out.
Reposted by Nicole Bedera
Today is a good day to remember, and to say, that the #MeToo movement was right, and was righteous, and has been vindicated over and over again. There was no overreach. There was no excess. There was no they-went-too-far.
So much work remains to be done.
So much work remains to be done.
November 12, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Today is a good day to remember, and to say, that the #MeToo movement was right, and was righteous, and has been vindicated over and over again. There was no overreach. There was no excess. There was no they-went-too-far.
So much work remains to be done.
So much work remains to be done.
Reposted by Nicole Bedera
We have some absolutely w i l d stories in the works at @autonomynews.co. But investigative reporting is time-intensive, and time is money.
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November 13, 2025 at 3:29 PM
We have some absolutely w i l d stories in the works at @autonomynews.co. But investigative reporting is time-intensive, and time is money.
Subscribe, tip, buy merch, or make a tax-deductible donation today to keep our work paywall-free for all:
Subscribe, tip, buy merch, or make a tax-deductible donation today to keep our work paywall-free for all:
Listen. We all need to agree to block any user who makes or shares memes about Epstein.
The last thing we need is to be surrounded by rape jokes with a visual component.
The last thing we need is to be surrounded by rape jokes with a visual component.
November 13, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Listen. We all need to agree to block any user who makes or shares memes about Epstein.
The last thing we need is to be surrounded by rape jokes with a visual component.
The last thing we need is to be surrounded by rape jokes with a visual component.
Reposted by Nicole Bedera
Government career lawyers reluctant to defend obvious abuse of presidential power.
DOJ, according to 3 people with knowledge of the matter, has struggled to determine which of its offices and lawyers will handle Ms. Comey’s lawsuit, leading to the highly unusual lapse. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal DOJ affairs.
Justice Dept. Struggled to Find Lawyers to Handle Maurene Comey Suit
www.nytimes.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Government career lawyers reluctant to defend obvious abuse of presidential power.
Reposted by Nicole Bedera
The Epstein story gets a something that is tearing at the heart of the electorate: elite impunity. The idea that wealthy and powerful people can do terrible things *at scale* and face no consequences for them. Whatever political party actually stops it could rule the country for a generation.
November 12, 2025 at 10:23 PM
The Epstein story gets a something that is tearing at the heart of the electorate: elite impunity. The idea that wealthy and powerful people can do terrible things *at scale* and face no consequences for them. Whatever political party actually stops it could rule the country for a generation.
I just had a reply guy use AI to hallucinate a fake study citation to “prove” I was wrong.
And a whole bunch of onlookers liked his response, probably assuming the fake study was real. Because that’s the way the Internet is now.
And a whole bunch of onlookers liked his response, probably assuming the fake study was real. Because that’s the way the Internet is now.
November 13, 2025 at 10:13 PM
I just had a reply guy use AI to hallucinate a fake study citation to “prove” I was wrong.
And a whole bunch of onlookers liked his response, probably assuming the fake study was real. Because that’s the way the Internet is now.
And a whole bunch of onlookers liked his response, probably assuming the fake study was real. Because that’s the way the Internet is now.
Reposted by Nicole Bedera
Hey so “underage girls” are…children. The word you’re looking for is children. They’re not like, women-in-waiting or women-lite or whatever. They’re children. I think some of you are very uncomfortable with what that means for you but it is still true.
November 12, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Hey so “underage girls” are…children. The word you’re looking for is children. They’re not like, women-in-waiting or women-lite or whatever. They’re children. I think some of you are very uncomfortable with what that means for you but it is still true.
Reposted by Nicole Bedera
Hopefully people are remembering that sexual assault victims can read what they’re saying
November 13, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Hopefully people are remembering that sexual assault victims can read what they’re saying
It’s horrifying how many people seem convinced by the “the victims were mostly teens—so it’s not that bad!” argument.
As if the sexual abuse of women and teen girls isn’t equally as egregious.
We don’t need a hierarchy of sexual violence. We can just say that all rape is wrong.
As if the sexual abuse of women and teen girls isn’t equally as egregious.
We don’t need a hierarchy of sexual violence. We can just say that all rape is wrong.
November 13, 2025 at 8:55 PM
It’s horrifying how many people seem convinced by the “the victims were mostly teens—so it’s not that bad!” argument.
As if the sexual abuse of women and teen girls isn’t equally as egregious.
We don’t need a hierarchy of sexual violence. We can just say that all rape is wrong.
As if the sexual abuse of women and teen girls isn’t equally as egregious.
We don’t need a hierarchy of sexual violence. We can just say that all rape is wrong.
Reposted by Nicole Bedera
These people are disgusting.
November 13, 2025 at 8:30 PM
These people are disgusting.
Reposted by Nicole Bedera
I want to very gently say something, and I hope nobody will be mad: If somebody on the internet says something that is NOT about politics and NOT about how terrible everything is, it’s a kindness not to reflexively make a comment (in jest or not) that brings it back to those things.
November 13, 2025 at 2:10 AM
I want to very gently say something, and I hope nobody will be mad: If somebody on the internet says something that is NOT about politics and NOT about how terrible everything is, it’s a kindness not to reflexively make a comment (in jest or not) that brings it back to those things.
I wrote a paper (in part) about men’s rape contests and the way they select socially marginalized victims (e.g., children, LGBTQ people) because they will be considered unique trophies in their masculinity contests.
November 13, 2025 at 8:29 PM
I wrote a paper (in part) about men’s rape contests and the way they select socially marginalized victims (e.g., children, LGBTQ people) because they will be considered unique trophies in their masculinity contests.
Reposted by Nicole Bedera
This is about women and children as objects and tools and how abuse of them is not just tolerated and ignored but facilitated and celebrated.
November 13, 2025 at 12:58 PM
This is about women and children as objects and tools and how abuse of them is not just tolerated and ignored but facilitated and celebrated.
This is your regular reminder that most men who sexually abuse children do not meet the clinical definition of a pedophile.
They simply want to abuse their power and no one is more vulnerable to abuse than a child.
They simply want to abuse their power and no one is more vulnerable to abuse than a child.
November 13, 2025 at 8:17 PM
This is your regular reminder that most men who sexually abuse children do not meet the clinical definition of a pedophile.
They simply want to abuse their power and no one is more vulnerable to abuse than a child.
They simply want to abuse their power and no one is more vulnerable to abuse than a child.
Reposted by Nicole Bedera
in online corners like these I think people largely recognize how credulous, unprincipled opposition to "wokeness" functioned as lightly papered over defenses of impunity, but it's one of those drums people should probably start beating for normies
Something absolutely perfect about Larry Summers riffing about the scourge of woke cancel culture being unfair to predatory men in a friendly email to his pal JEFFREY EPSTEIN.
November 13, 2025 at 2:13 PM
in online corners like these I think people largely recognize how credulous, unprincipled opposition to "wokeness" functioned as lightly papered over defenses of impunity, but it's one of those drums people should probably start beating for normies
Reposted by Nicole Bedera
When Covid caused NYC offices to hollow out what they found was that yeah the core business districts suffered but the neighborhoods where people actually live, thrived.
All WFH means is rethinking business districts, not cities.
All WFH means is rethinking business districts, not cities.
if you cant go in to the office 3 days a week then you really can't complain when cities are hollowed out. cities are places where ppl work and network. getting rid of that makes cities useless
And it's usually something like "but that's not what the literal DNC does!" as if I don't know, as someone who has worked on Dem campaigns, sometimes in conjunction with the DNC what they do. So I'm going to be very specific here: this is the DNC being shitty: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/u...
November 13, 2025 at 3:54 PM
When Covid caused NYC offices to hollow out what they found was that yeah the core business districts suffered but the neighborhoods where people actually live, thrived.
All WFH means is rethinking business districts, not cities.
All WFH means is rethinking business districts, not cities.
Reposted by Nicole Bedera
The thing is, positing themselves as our only choice if we don't want republican fascism has held the democrats to delivering the absolute least because we should be beholden to them. And it has trended everything rightward toward authoritarianism as they delivered conservativism to compete with it.
November 12, 2025 at 5:06 PM
The thing is, positing themselves as our only choice if we don't want republican fascism has held the democrats to delivering the absolute least because we should be beholden to them. And it has trended everything rightward toward authoritarianism as they delivered conservativism to compete with it.
Reposted by Nicole Bedera
Othered bodies are just a stage for their masculinity.
The primary reason men perpetrate sexual violence is to bond with each other.
That’s why there are so many text messages and emails. For most rapists, the satisfaction doesn’t come from the violence. It comes from the power they get after bragging about it.
That’s why there are so many text messages and emails. For most rapists, the satisfaction doesn’t come from the violence. It comes from the power they get after bragging about it.
November 12, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Othered bodies are just a stage for their masculinity.
Reposted by Nicole Bedera
I wish that more people understood this. Growing up in a more rural, conservative area, the young men I knew loved swapping stories. And they made damn sure to protect each other because if everyone was doing it, then nobody was wrong.
The primary reason men perpetrate sexual violence is to bond with each other.
That’s why there are so many text messages and emails. For most rapists, the satisfaction doesn’t come from the violence. It comes from the power they get after bragging about it.
That’s why there are so many text messages and emails. For most rapists, the satisfaction doesn’t come from the violence. It comes from the power they get after bragging about it.
November 12, 2025 at 4:40 PM
I wish that more people understood this. Growing up in a more rural, conservative area, the young men I knew loved swapping stories. And they made damn sure to protect each other because if everyone was doing it, then nobody was wrong.