On Saturday I went with a few friends to the Slutwalk London march (it's been a few days but I wanted to get all my thoughts in order before I wrote this). I don't have any of my own photos yet, as I took them on my Mini Diana, so they need to be developed, but I'll post them up later because the march itself was amazing to see!! There were about 3000 of us apparently and it was inspirational to be among so many strong, feminist women - and also a few men, who should be commended for coming along and participating.
For those who aren’t aware, Slutwalk is a movement that began in Toronto, after a policeman made the comment that if women didn’t want to be raped, they shouldn’t dress like ‘sluts’. In protest against this, women across the world in many cities have taken to the streets in marches known as Slutwalks, often dressed in clothes deemed ‘slutty’, to make the point that all women deserve the right to wear whatever they want without being labeled abusive names or held responsible for their own sufferings.
For me, Slutwalk is extremely significant in that it targets a sexist belief in society that is rarely mentioned. If a man were to walk around topless, no one would call him a slut (not that there is an actual male equivalent of slut), or say he ‘deserves it’ if he gets raped – so why is this acceptable to say about women? Because these sort of things
have been said about women, particularly in the backlash to Slutwalk. In many of the speeches during the day, it was made obvious that in many rape trials, the attacker is given a more lenient sentence or even let off free, based on the woman’s level of alcohol consumption or the clothes she was wearing that night. But there is a huge difference between seeing an attractive woman wearing revealing clothes and being attracted to her, and forcibly acting on those feelings; rape is a deliberate action and no circumstances make it excusable. As one of the slogans of the day put it: ‘My Dress is NOT a Yes’.
In addition, why should women’s freedom to dress how they choose be restricted for fear of the actions of someone else? (Bearing in mind that men get raped too, yet in these cases no one mentions what the victim was wearing, or whether or not he was drunk and therefore more deserving) One of the most tragic things about this issue is that I known boys my age personally, who label girls as ‘classy’ or ‘skets’ and treat them accordingly. What’s worse is that other women contribute heavily to ‘slut shaming’, when this is an issue we should all stand together on.
Critics have pointed out that Slutwalk won’t stop rape attacks, or change who the victims are. But the aim of Slutwalk – from my point of view at least – is to raise awareness that this kind of sexism towards women who have already been through a traumatic ordeal should be unacceptable. Maybe it won’t stop rapes immediately, but peoples’ willingness to stand up against this and demand women’s rights to dress as they want and still be protected by the law will hopefully begin to change society’s attitudes to where the blame is placed in rape, and educate men (and women) to treat all women – regardless of their attire – with the respect they deserve.
(The girl in the middle is one of my friends! And now she's on the news XD it's so bizarre!)
