If you are a victim of sexual assault, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline 1-800-656-4673. There is someone there waiting to hear your story, to believe you.
I'm wrestling with the readings for this Sunday's sermon. How do I preach Potiphar's wife's sexual harassment of her servant, Joseph and her false accusation that lands him in jail? (You can read this part of Joseph's story here.)
It's a story that seems ripped from the headlines.
It's a story that is too close to home for too many of us.
One of the major concerns in the many online preacher discussions of this test is the specter of a woman giving false accusations against a man. Will this story give fuel to the fire of those who insist Ms. Ford is giving false accusations against Supreme Court nominee Kavanagh? Will this story only reinforce the ages old myth that women often falsely accuse men of sexual assault and rape? Doesn't this scrpture passage prove that all the #metoo stories are just that - stories made up to harm the accused in some way?
Using these false accusations against Joseph to promote this myth of the untrustworthiness of the female victim is to do violence not only to the victim but also to the scriptural text. For Joseph is not the falsely accused alleged aggressor, but the falsely blamed victim. It's easy at first glance to allow the gender roles to blind us to what is happening her: a person with power harasses and then vilifies an underling.
Make no mistake, this is NOT a story of a woman accusing a man (falsely or not) of attempted rape. This is about a employer/slave owner repeatedly harassing a servant/slave and then blaming them when the abuse is discovered.
Well, then, there's victim blaming for that too. Why didn't Joseph tell #whyididntreport?
Seriously? He was never even given the chance. Potiphar believes his wife, who cleverly enlisted other slaves in the household to support her story. Slaves who probably were well aware of her pursuit of Joseph. Could they have been jealous of the attention she gave him? The favors of the mistress of the house were a way for a slave to better himself or herself. Slaves who probably didn't understand why Joseph didn't take the opportunity presented him. Even if jealously didn't drive their ready agreement with her story, what other choice did they have? She owned them - literally. They also could be falsely accused.
When you think about the extreme imbalance of power, it is amazing that Joseph didn't give in to her demands. She owned him (through her husband of course). Joseph had control over the whole household, except her. But he was hers to command.
And he refused.
This is one story - one of the few - in the Bible where there is a male victim of sexual assault. The Bible is full of stories where women are sexually assaulted or raped, but do we believe them?
No, our biblical foremothers are blamed or deemed complicit in
their assaults. In matters of sex, it seems, the sin is always the
woman's.
It is a story ripped from the
headlines.
Too many women are blamed for the sexual harassment and assault
they have suffered.
Too many women are labeled as liars when they report the assault. Labeled as complicit, “asking for it.” Blamed for waiting “too long” to report.
Assumed to have ulterior motives for coming forward later when they are (finally!)
strong enough to talk about the assault.
Held responsible – “she should have known better.”
Held as guilty until they are proven innocent of making false
charges, of trying to “ruin” a man’s life.
If we are uncomfortable with this story in our Bible, it’s because
it is far too close to home for far too many of us:
For the victims who relive their nightmares in the words of this story
For the abusers who fear that the scriptural truth of this passage
might just succeed in shining a light in the dark places of their own lives.
For the Potiphars who find it more comfortable and convenient to believe the powerful.
If you are a victim of sexual assault, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline 1-800-656-4673. There is someone there waiting to hear your story, to believe you.
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