The Slut Walk has bounced into the world of the internet as the latest outrage at perceptions of guilty victims in rape cases.
The premise that women are "asking for it" is once again being challenged by a rising youth population in America, a genuine civil liberty protest movement challenging ubiquitous concepts around rape and responsibility.
I do not like the name. But the principle is sound.
The name is intending to present an interesting reverse psychology message in marketing, with banners proclaiming "I'm a slut, don't assault me" which, I imagine, are intended to continue allowing women to dress as they wish without the perjorative associations of becoming deserving victims.
The principle of the march is founded in these misconceptions around rape and sexual assault, but it seems to avoid one of the main issues in this misconception. That the female body is available for display and should be treated as an asset in the social exchange.
It is a reactionary movement that responds to one issue in a myriad of misconceptions and capitalistic understanding of female eroticism, and perhaps these challenges could take a lot from also seeking to prevent such exploitation of women in the first place, therefore challenging the status quo that women are objects for desire and assault.
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I agree 100% Thank you for putting it so well. While I am all for the cause behind the movement, I have a huge concern with the name. The s word is the most heinous, sexist word, and I can barely stand to utter it. It's an interesting concept however, that they're trying to "reclaim" it and transform it into having a less negative meaning (like tomboy or dyke to note examples that have been pointed out).
ReplyDeleteNonetheless I wholeheartedly agree that saying things like "yeah, I'm a slut. woo!" is still playing into the sexual double standard that the term reinforces. I think the main goal should be to eradicate the support behind these terms and to make people realize that women are sexually equal to men and should be treated as such in the social sphere (including the media, which has a horrifyingly negative role in spreading this misogyny).
*sigh* So I'm still not sure if I can throw all of my support behind it given the name and some of the sexist assumptions that are still upheld in it, but I do support their cause!
Hi Kelly-Marie, here's a provocative extension of your argument. You might find this interesting:
ReplyDeletehttp://garplives.blogspot.com/2011/05/why-slutwalk-is-exercise-in-stupidity.html
There is a lot of anti-establishment resentment pent-up out there that sometimes spills over into the streets. The establishment is paranoid about the impact any public rage may have, so it’s in their interest to divert any such resentment into causes that look stupid, as long as they are peaceful, don’t cause property damage and don’t call for the abolishment of any privelages or institutions enjoyed by the establishment. That way, it’s a win-win situation. People get to vent off their anger carrying banners with stupid slogans written across them, others with built up frustrations and watching this will be deterred from carrying anything like it into the streets themselves, afraid now of looking just as stupid, and the establishment will carry on as usual. Everyone goes home happy. The establishment had to come up with some kind of insurance policy in face of the Arab Spring. So when a non-issue wins the day, that's your establishment's insurance policy. Additionally, as a bonus, a decade from now the term slut may be written into the dictionaries as standing for a fashion carnosaur or as someone who walks for peace or progress. So the term will then be cool rather than offensive. Lady Gaga, Paris Hilton and Amy Winefield could then be described only as mother Teresa's for lack of better words. Oh the politically correct world we live in, obsessively fucused on terminological sentiments.
ReplyDeleteSlutwalk revisited. Felines moody. Moreover, there is more to this Slutwalk than meets the eye. Ok, the feline media had hyped the image of cops for about two years, in connection to certain high profile arrests, and I know which ones. But because of Hollywood and all that feline power stuff women feel empowered, act macho and constantly run stop signs and such. Although the cop media representatives were all blushing about their media hype for a while, a lot of front line cops despite all the sensitivity training have been coming a little hard on stop sign and red light feline runners. Women activists sensed that, that the honeymoon was over when it came to practical matters (no breaks) at least, so as a way of revenge, and felines always need to have their revenge when things don't go their way, they decided to take back what they gave to cops with interest (a demonstration of feline power - if you're not with us, you're against us), so they totally trashed their image. And now that's what the other people are left with - pissed off cops who block off all the street lanes when ever there's a traffic accident as a way of showing to the public - keep away from us, keep your 100 foot distance, and pissed off felines who slut their way through streets. Yes, the adults are in charge.