It turns out I’m not alone. There is an enormous amount of social pressure among women to stifle any skepticism, so much so that many of us choose a simple side or shut down. But the conversations I’ve been having with women privately are much more complex than our public debate allows.

Multiple Republican women reached out and told me they re-registered as independents after seeing the disgusting rape-apologist rhetoric freely flowing from men on the right. “It’s been a real eye-opener,” one woman said. “I’m embarrassed to be in the same party as them.”

A woman born and raised a Democrat was furious with how #MeToo was weaponized at the last moment for maximum political impact. “If the Democratic Party knew that it wouldn’t matter, that he would get nominated anyway, which it seems pretty clear that they did — why do this to everyone?” she said, pointing to the TV that was showing clips of women in distress, protesting all over America.

“Why open all these wounds for people and divide the country even more if you knew, ultimately, it wouldn’t matter and it would feel like a slap in the face to victims everywhere, not to mention Ford?”