"Keep This Between Us"

Clearly, this is not an easy watch.  But I have a tendency to force my way through documentaries which are "important", including "One Child Nation" and "The Day I Will Never Forget".  Too many women's stories are skewed, if they are told at all.  When they are told, we need to listen.  Really.  In this four-part series director Cheryl Nichols tries to work through the sexual abuse she faced from a teacher.  As many of us know, you can put one foot in front of the other for decades after something like this but the damage is creates is pervasive.  The series doesn't just focus on what happened to Ms. Nichols but on the way this kind of thing continues to happen because of a society which: a) sexualizes young girls, b) blames the young girls, not the predatory men, c) tries to diminish and dismiss the actions of the adult men against young women as something acceptable and widespread, d) covers up and hides the actions of these men in institutions like schools.  The series creates some lasting questions -- including at what age does a woman have the capacity to recognize what is happening to her and is able to walk away from a situation which is not healthy?  The series makes it clear that this is not something you "get over" but something which becomes a part of you, something which impacts how you interact with the world.  It was a brutal viewing for me, in many ways.  But it is important.  Very important.