The Cosby Lesson - Why We Need Women's Stories

Photo By Amanda Demme for New York Magazine

New York Magazine just published a piece on 35 women who were willing to come forward with stories of being assaulted by Bill Cosby over the years. These allegations were first made decades ago and yet they have been largely ignored. Now documents obtained by the New York Times show the veracity of their claims, in Cosby's own words, and new attention and legitimacy has been given to the issue.

Why does the Bechdel Project care?

It is no accident that a culture whose stories ignore and gloss over women, is also a culture that actually ignores and glosses over women.

The Bechdel Project wants to be a part of changing that.

The New York Magazine article, in addition to the recent media coverage, has brought many of these women together for the first time. They were all interviewed separately, but what is shocking is that their stories are so similar, from the descriptions of their interactions with Cosby, to the emotional fallout they experienced afterward.

What is not shocking is that they have since found solace in each other's stories. They were comforted upon discovering that they were not alone. They drew strength by learning how others survived.

This is universal. We all need to hear our stories. We all need to know we are not alone in our experience of the world, and that others understand what we have gone through.

But right now in America, women are largely left out of our stories, or are used merely in service of men's stories.

We can do better, and we can change our world at the same time.

We hope you will join us.