Still, the emergence of Dr. Blasey and the reaction on all sides show how pivotal the movement has become. While Dr. Blasey came forward reluctantly with decades-old claims, she was immediately embraced and supported by #MeToo activists and women across the country. The Republican men who run the Senate Judiciary Committee — two of whom remain from the time Ms. Hill appeared 27 years ago — were careful to publicly show her deference.

And when Judge Kavanaugh came before the committee to forcefully deny the allegations, one of the themes of his tearful rant was that Dr. Blasey’s account threatened to turn him into one of those once-powerful men cut down by an accusation from the past, uncorroborated by eyewitnesses. He lamented that he might lose his ability to coach his daughters’ basketball team and teach at Harvard, not to mention his chance to serve on the Supreme Court .

It was as if the accusations and recriminations that have played out in workplaces across the country over the last year were now elevated to a bigger stage — hearings broadcast on national television, with the nation’s leaders engaged in the tug of war over who gets to speak and who is heard.

Dr. Blasey testified that the memory that had traumatized her repeatedly over the years was one of forced silence: Judge Kavanaugh, a 17-year-old high school athlete, putting his hand over her mouth to muffle her screams for help as he pinned her to a bed and assaulted her.

Democrat after Democrat on the panel thanked Dr. Blasey for her bravery in speaking up now, saying her courage had inspired other women to come forward to tell of their long-silenced terrors.

During Judge Kavanaugh’s testimony, he interrupted Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, a Democrat who ran for her office because she was appalled at how Ms. Hill was diminished by an all-male judiciary panel. He responded to a question about his drinking habits from Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota by defiantly turning it on her: Had she ever blacked out from drinking too much? (He later apologized to her.)