Last week, I wrote about the rape allegation against Graham Platner, the Democratic Senate candidate from Maine who has since dropped out, leaving a temporary vacuum for a new progressive challenger to Republican Sen. Susan Collins to fill. While organizers in the northeast scramble to select a new candidate, a wider conversation has broken out online about whether the leftists who rallied behind Platner should have seen this coming, if the vile attitude from some left-leaning journalists in the wake of the allegations will result in any consequences, and more broadly, if we have a bigger problem with misogyny on the left to contend with.

The answer to the last question is duh. There’s no political faction or place or person untouched by the misogyny that courses through everything. Our status quo is violent patriarchy, and sexual violence is a universal crisis. Of course, compared to the Christofascists running the U.S. into the ground, it may seem unhelpful to criticize the left for misogyny at all. But that would be wrong. It’s not only valid to call out misogyny wherever it exists, but also to ensure that combatting it is a core part of the growing leftist movement.

It’s also important to recognize when critiques of misogyny are a smokescreen for the political establishment to smear the movement at large. We’re already seeing that trend emerge in the wake of the Platner scandal, too. Discernment is key here, and it’s not always easy in the fast-paced social media and news environment. It’s no wonder this topic has stoked so much conversation, including on my Discord for Spitfire News members over the past week. It has given me a lot to think about.