In a world of reality television and competitive game shows, it's sometimes easy to forget that there are people who simply don't want to be famous.

Until a few weeks ago, Christine Blasey Ford was one of them. But on Thursday in Washington, her anonymity was torn to shreds forever.

Dr Ford sat before a US Senate committee hearing that was held to explore her charge that Brett Kavanaugh, nominated for a lifetime appointment to the US Supreme Court, attempted to sexually assault her at a party when they were in high school.

Dr Ford's accusation came to light just as it looked like Mr Kavanaugh would have an easy time winning approval from the committee, which would then send his nomination to the full Senate for a vote.

That still may happen. But the image of Dr Ford, giving her testimony, now will accompany Mr Kavanaugh for the rest of his career.

The image, in fact, is that of American women of her generation and everything that they have tried to become, and what they have had to endure to do so.

An unlikely weapon

Dr Ford is a role model. She had a top-notch education. She is successful. She has a family. She is well-groomed and polite and as she told the senators, "I like to be collegial".

Where Mr Kavanaugh later was bellicose and angry and emotionally refuted her accusation, Dr Ford only shared the tears. But not, as many said of Mr Kavanaugh, because she was afraid of losing one of the most valuable jobs in the land.

Dr Ford was choked up because she was in one of the most challenging atmospheres that any private citizen can possibly imagine.

Sorry, this video has expired Brett Kavanaugh denied ever assaulting Christine Blasey Ford

You might have seen Congressional hearing rooms in dramas such as House of Cards, or on news programs, where executives are called to testify when their companies screw up.

They look grand and sweeping and like Hollywood stage sets. In truth, they are rather small. There's a circular row of seats for the senators, with a little room behind them for staff aides. Journalists are crowded into tables on either side of the room.

Photographers sit on the floor, and behind the witness table are a couple of rows of chairs for lawyers, family and spectators. It's a hothouse, and even the most experienced politicians and corporate officials can find the pressure-cooker atmosphere unsettling.

Imagine then, what Dr Ford was going through. Here was a 51-year-old psychologist in a navy suit, who hates to fly, but travelled from California anyway, because as she said in her opening statement, she felt it was a civic duty to explain what Mr Kavanaugh allegedly did to her at the party the summer after her sophomore year.

She was alternatively smiling and nervous, and while Republicans tried to imply that she was a Democratic ploy to prevent Mr Kavanaugh from getting the nomination, Dr Ford seemed to be an unlikely weapon.

Almost too eager to please

What was most appealing was her honesty, which she demonstrated when she admitted she did not know what the word "exculpatory" meant. In fact, it refers to evidence that could be favourable to the defendant in a trial, or in the case of the hearing, Mr Kavanaugh.

A number of people remarked on social media that Dr Ford seemed almost too eager to please, in the way that many American women of her generation have been taught to be.

And yet, she was not so obsequious that her reason for being in Washington was lost. When asked by Illinois senator Richard Durbin to what degree of certainty she believed Mr Kavanaugh had assaulted her, Dr Ford replied, "One hundred per cent".

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Her voice was quivering, and a strand of her hair fell over her eye. To a nation that has gotten used to seeing bold accusations against the sitting president by the confident porn star Stormy Daniels, Dr Ford's demeanour seemed relatable.

This has been a turbulent year as women in politics, entertainment and business have come forward with their #MeToo stories.

Dr Ford has generated her own hashtag, too: #WhyIDidntReport. Women have been explaining why they didn't tell their parents, teachers, parents or bosses about sexual assaults that took place decades ago.

It could easily have been one of us

Dr Ford's story could easily have happened to one of us, by a boy who had too much to drink at a party.

Particularly poignant in her testimony was when Dr Ford discussed her efforts to flee the memory of Mr Kavanaugh's assault.

She said that when she was renovating her home in California, she insisted on installing a second front door. Her husband asked why, since the additional door detracted from the home's appearance.

She explained during couples counselling in 2012 that she wanted a second escape route, in case one exit was blocked. That discussion triggered her memory of what she said Mr Kavanaugh had done to her. And for the first time, she told her husband about it.

Dr Ford, as it turned out, understands the precise science of what happened to her. During her testimony, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont asked what she remembered most from the incident.

Dr Ford replied, "Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter. The uproarious laughter between the two," meaning Mr Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge, who was supposedly present but has not been called to testify. "They 're having fun at my expense."

The hippocampus is a small organ in the brain that is associated with memory. It is why we are able to remember things years and decades after they happen, almost as if it took place yesterday.

And it is why we will remember that a quiet psychologist from Palo Alto, California sat under the lights and told her story.

She may not prevent Mr Kavanaugh from becoming a Supreme Court justice. But she is already a symbol of what many women have endured.

Micheline Maynard is an American author and journalist.