SlutWalk

A Toronto police officer once gave a group of high school students the following advice: “I’ve been told I’m not supposed to say this – however, women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimised.” To some, this statement may have been another reminder of the sexism and misogyny entrenched in our society. Others may have seen nothing out of the ordinary or offensive in the officer’s comment. But to yet another group of people, the officer’s comment was a breaking point in the passive acceptance of a rape culture that victimizes and blames people who undergo sexual harassment, sexual trauma, or sexual assault. These furious people unrolled a series of rallies called SlutWalks which soon after sprouted across cities nationwide inspiring supporters to reappropriate the word slut for themselves.

The bottom line at SlutWalk is that people– in particular womyn who have historically been denied agency (especially sexual agency)–are free to dress their bodies as they please as well as to engage in sexual relationships with whomever, however, and as much (or as little) as they want without being abused. The demonization of womyn owning their bodies and having sexual agency perpetuates a rape culture where women are blamed for rape if they wear “inappropriate” clothing, are sexually active, or fail to take precaution; rather than paying attention to the unstable person who has no self control and rapes, we focus on the person receiving assault as if the blame is theirs. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), 1 of 6 women in the United States has survived an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime; this is true for 1 of 33 men. 60 percent of rapes are not reported to the police and 97 percent of rapists will never spend a day in jail.

SlutWalk was intended as a space where women could feel empowered and safe to take back control of their bodies. Still, not all womyn feel this space is welcoming of them and SlutWalk has been challenged in the past for overlooking race in the discussion of assault of women’s bodies. RAINN show rape in relation to race: Native women were the group who survived the highest percentage of rapes (34.1 percent), followed by women of mixed races (24.4 percent), than black women ( 18.8 percent), white women (17.7 percent) and Asian Pacific Islander women (6.8 percent). SlutWalk has nonetheless been regarded as a bold and empowering opportunity for people to heal from collective sexual trauma. While the war on womyn isn’t going away anytime soon, people continue to build creative ways to fight against the invasion of all bodies and spaces.

“If being happy, free, and dressing how I want is being a slut, them I am a slut.”

[Photo retrieved from: The Fulano Files]

 

Angry Man-Hating Lesbians

This week I bring up the practice and ideology of feminism and the face of feminists.

To explore feminism, I use Bell Hooks‘ book, “Feminism Is For Everybody”. Feminism has in a general definition been defined as the unity of all and any genders against patriarchy. Patriarchy embodies a male-dominated society that seeks the subordination of females. Patriarchy thrives in a foundation of sexism to the extent where women are simply objects as opposed to subjects in control of their bodies and lives. Women just as well as men can participate in sexism and the oppression of women. In a patriarchal society, heterosexual men hold most, if not all,  power in the social, economic and political spheres. Men are seen as the head of the household which is legitimized in the higher wages they earn. The number of men dominates the number of women in political office. A simple example is the fact that all of the U.S. presidents have been men.

Often, feminists are illustrated as sensitive, angry man-hating lesbians. There is a limited knowledge in the popular imagination of what feminism stands for and who a feminist is.

Feminism is a movement and one at has progressed over the decades. Three waves characterize the movement. The first wave of feminism was pioneered by white women who demanded equal rights, particularly the right to vote. Women of color challenged the first wave which did not examine class or racial oppression; this is considered by feminist scholars to be second-wave feminism. Second wave feminism considered that women also exploited other women exemplified in the demand for domestic servants who were often women of color by white women. Feminism recognizes the intersectionalities of oppression: gender, race, and class etc.