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§1. In a #MeToo case, Ronaldo is accused of rape and having paid $375k to buy silence on the issue. This will test the social power the feminist movement had gathered until now on all subjects, and how it is articulated will determine its power in all subjects.
§2. In daily life, feminism can have single-issue fights. We can have a victory for equal pay, while losing in the catcalling front. We can be winning in #metoo while at the same time losing in the femicide front. We can gain more legitimacy on reproductive work, while losing on objectification of women's bodies.
Of course all these are connected and that's why feminism is a word, but the struggles can be separated tactically: you can convince your friend that the recent court case about rape is outrageous, while failing to persuade him about salary inequality. You can get more and more public support on stupid ads objectifying women, but people can still be skeptical about whether praxe is sexist. These fights are connected but separate.
§3. This is not the case with Ronaldo's scandal. Ronaldo is a test to the Portuguese population as a whole.
The reason for this is that Ronaldo represents the ultimate social consensus in Portugal.
This is not a single issue. This is the issue.
§4. Now, all feminist struggles and collectives are being tested politically. How the society as a whole responds to the case is a direct indicator of the social power all the feminist movement built so far.
There are very few historical opportunities where a whole movement crystallizes (temporarily, of course) into one singular question.
§5. And, there is the other side of the coin:
How the feminist movement as a whole deals with the Ronaldo case and how it stands after this battle (more powerful or less powerful), will have a direct impact on the future of all feminist struggles, from equal pay to sexual harassment, to violence against women. If the power balance gets against feminist discourse in this particular discussion, then the power balance in all the fights will weaken. If it gets for the feminist discourse, it will empower all the fight.
This is because the feminist movement is confronting the social consensus as a whole with Ronaldo's case.
The case is not just an indicator of the past, but also a defining moment of the future.
§6. There are key moments in a war where the future of all the fronts is represented by and depends on a single battle.
#MeToo movement generated such a wonderful opportunity in Portugal.
