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Raped at 13, this beauty queen walked away from her crown after an emcee's #MeToo joke.

Miss America pageants are changing for the better, but that change has been slow to catch on in some state competitions.

On June 30, 2018, the emcee of the Miss Massachusetts pageant mocked #MeToo, blaming the loss of the swimsuit competition on the movement.

In a brief skit, a woman spoke to someone dressed as God, saying, “We may have very well seen the last ever swimsuit competition on stage. It’s very upsetting, and I’m trying to understand, God, why it happened.” And the person playing God held up a #MeToo sign and replied, "Me too, Amy."

Some in the audience cheered and laughed, but one contestant, Maude Gorman didn't find it funny.

I can’t believe I just attended my last Miss Massachusetts orientation (ever!!). The last thing I expected this year was to be competing in pageants again; yet alone with the Miss America Organization. I had previously aged out, and thought that was that. But, by some miracle, they the increased the age limit, and I knew I had to give it one last try! I’m extremely grateful to be a titleholder at a time in my life where I stand to show others just how beautiful STRONG is. I’m 30 lbs heavier than when I last competed 🎉🎉🎉, can now bench press more than I used to weigh when I last stepped foot on that stage, and I can’t wait to show myself (and everybody) that change and strength within self is one of the biggest wins of all 🙏 #missmassachusetts #missplymouthcounty #mao #strongisbeautiful #7seasroasting #rxathlete #beautyandabeast

A post shared by Maude Gorman 🇺🇸 (@maudernliving) on

“It was heartbreaking to hear,” said Gorman, who was competing in the pageant as Miss Plymouth County. “In that moment, everything collapsed right in front of me.”

She skipped the reception after the show and went home to draft her resignation from the pageant. With her experiences, this was something Gorman couldn't let stand.

At 13, Maude Gorman was attacked and raped by three men — a secret she kept for years. Gorman and a friend had walked to a playground to swing on the swings, and as they were leaving, three highly intoxicated men approached them. The girls ran in different directions, but the men chased after and caught up with Gorman. They took turns raping her before finally letting her go. Embarrassed and ashamed, she didn’t tell anyone what happened.

For three years, she kept her story a secret, spiraling in and out of depression, suicide attempts, and other mental health issues. Finally, she told her mom about the rapes, and Gorman started intensive therapy. She and her family consulted a lawyer, but too much time had passed, she didn't know who the men were, and there wasn’t enough physical evidence to prove the crime.

However, Gorman decided she wouldn't stay silent any longer.

Gorman started competing in pageants to boost her confidence and help other sexual assault survivors.

In 2015, at age 21, Gorman made headlines for winning the Miss Massachusetts World America crown and telling judges that she wanted to use her platform to help victims of sexual assault. She started working with the Center for Hope and Healing in Lowell, Massachusetts, and sharing her story at various conferences. At the Miss World pageant, she won first place in the "Beauty with a Purpose" presentation — a three-minute speech in which Gorman spoke candidly about her experience with sexual violence.

“I think society blames victims,” she told the Boston Globe. “I’m trying to remove that blame. My goal is to be that light at the end of the tunnel for those who feel stuck in the darkness.”

Competing in the Miss America Organization pageant was a dream come true for Gorman. But the #MeToo joke crossed the line.

"I refuse to stand idly by and simply 'let this go,'" says Gorman.

Today, I officially resigned from the title of Miss Plymouth County 2018. While I’m grateful for the opportunities that @missamerica creates for young women, I am also internally conflicted; as the #metoo movement was mocked on stage during the final competition of Miss Massachusetts. As both a survivor, and advocate for victims rights and sexual violence on a whole, I refuse to stand idly by and simply “let this go”. Instead, I will stand up for every individual who has ever had the courage to speak out; and for every person who felt liberated by the #metoo movement. I will not allow ANYONE to take away that empowerment and liberation, or make it anything less than what it is: AMAZING. #metoo #missplymouthcounty #nomore #rainn #surviveandthrive

A post shared by Maude Gorman 🇺🇸 (@maudernliving) on

In an Instagram post, Gorman explained why she resigned from her Miss Plymouth County title and turned in her crown. "I will stand up for every individual who has ever had the courage to speak out," she wrote, "and for every person who felt liberated by the #MeToo movement. I will not allow ANYONE to take away that empowerment and liberation, or make it anything less than what it is: AMAZING."

Joking about rape victims isn't just tone deaf. It's a part of the problem.

In a civilized society, there are simply some subjects that are too heinous to be used as comedy fodder. Until we start acknowledging the life-altering pain and anguish that sexual assault survivors have to grapple with, and start treating sexual violence with the gravitas it deserves, we won't make the changes to our culture and our laws that are needed to prevent such assaults from happening.

Jokes that make light of sexual assault are part of the "rape culture" that spawned the #MeToo movement in the first place, and it's long past time for them to end. Civilized people don't joke about the Holocaust. We don't joke about child trafficking. And we shouldn't joke about sexual assault victims. It's not funny. Period.

Three cheers to Maude Gorman for taking a stand and continuing to use her voice to support sexual assault survivors — a feat far more impactful than winning any crown.

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How to end hunger, according to the people who face it daily

Here’s what people facing food insecurity want you to know about solving the hunger problem in America

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Even though America is the world’s wealthiest nation, about 1 in 6 of our neighbors turned to food banks and community programs in order to feed themselves and their families last year. Think about it: More than 9 million children faced hunger in 2021 (1 in 8 children).

In order to solve a problem, we must first understand it. Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, released its second annual Elevating Voices: Insights Report and turned to the experts—people experiencing hunger—to find out how this issue can be solved once and for all.

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Family brings home the wrong dog from daycare until their cats saved the day

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Fox 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul|YouTube

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It's not a secret that nearly all golden retrievers are identical. Honestly, magic has to be involved for owners to know which one belongs to them when more than one golden retriever is around. Seriously, how do they all seem have the same face? It's like someone fell asleep on the copy machine when they were being created.

Outside of collars, harnesses and bandanas, immediately identifying the dog that belongs to you has to be a secret skill because at first glance, their personalities are also super similar. That's why it's not surprising when one family dropped off their sweet golden pooch at daycare and to be groomed, they didn't notice the daycare sent out the wrong dog.

See, not even their human parents can tell them apart because when the swapped dog got home, nothing seemed odd to the owners at first. She was freshly groomed so any small differences were quickly brushed off. But this accidental doppelgänger wasn't fooling her feline siblings.

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A 29-year-old woman had a baby girl, and after a brief maternity leave, she had to return to work. She couldn't afford childcare, so her husband, 35, reluctantly agreed to watch the baby while she was at work.

“It’s important to know that he’s been unemployed since 2021,” the woman wrote on Reddit’s AITA subforum. “He receives benefits. It’s also important to know that he’s extremely lazy. He doesn’t cook, clean, or help out in any way. I was nervous about leaving her home with her father, but I had no choice.”

The mother had reason to be worried about leaving her baby home alone with her husband, but in the beginning, things seemed fine. “When I came back from work, she was clean and sleeping. The next few times I came home, he was either playing with her, feeding her, or out for a walk with her. I was happy,” she wrote.

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“This system has worked swimmingly for us since it started, the boys have always complied with completing their chores,” the mom wrote on Reddit.

Her 12-year-old son was getting ready to play Fortnite with a friend and told him he’d be ready in 15 minutes once he finished his chores. When the boys started playing the game, he told the friend he was in charge of dusting and sweeping the stairs, to which the friend responded, “It’s a good thing my parents don’t make me do girl chores.”

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Women do better when they have a group of strong female friends, study finds

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Photo by Omar Lopez on Unsplash

Women do better when they have female friends.

Madeleine Albright once said, "There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women." It turns out that might actually be a hell on Earth, because women just do better when they have other women to rely on, and there's research that backs it up.

A study published in the Harvard Business Review found that women who have a strong circle of friends are more likely to get executive positions with higher pay. "Women who were in the top quartile of centrality and had a female-dominated inner circle of 1-3 women landed leadership positions that were 2.5 times higher in authority and pay than those of their female peers lacking this combination," Brian Uzzi writes in the Harvard Business Review.

Part of the reason why women with strong women backing them up are more successful is because they can turn to their tribe for advice. Women have to face different challenges than men, such as unconscious bias, and being able to turn to other women who have had similar experiences can help you navigate a difficult situation. It's like having a road map for your goals.

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​Man goes all out for his squirrel neighbors, 'Richard' and 'Maxine,' and it's too sweet

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@derrickdowneyjr/TikTok

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Most of us who live in the U.S. are used to looking out a window or walking out our front door and seeing squirrels. The cute, fluffy-tailed rodents often appear perfectly pettable, but they generally scamper away when humans get too close.

That is not the case for TikTok creator Derrick Downey Jr., however, as he has not only befriended his neighborhood squirrels but goes all out to help them live their best squirrel lives.

Downey shared a video in May of 2022 in which he chats with a couple of squirrels on his porch while feeding them and offering them water. That video received over 26 million views and kicked off a whole series of videos showcasing the adorable antics of Richard, Maxine, Hector, Consuela, Norma (may she rest in peace), and Hood Rat Raymond. He's built Richard a house, rescued Maxine's babies, mourned Norma's transition (to wherever squirrels go when they die) and more.

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Library of Congress

When we think about the era of American slavery, many of us tend to think of it as the far distant past. While slavery doesn't exist as a formal institution today, there are people living who knew formerly enslaved black Americans first-hand. In the wide arc of history, the legal enslavement of people on U.S. soil is a recent occurrence—so recent, in fact, that we have voice recordings of interviews with people who lived it.

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