The SlutWalk movement is very effectively challenging the culture of victim blaming that attempts to justify and excuse sexual assault. The SlutWalk movement is bringing feminist ideas and action back onto the agenda in a way that hasn't happened for decades. This movement was sparked by a Toronto cop who told a group of uni students that “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimised”. The cop has since apologised, but everyone knows that such a comment is just the tip of the iceberg and in fact it accurately reflects a mentality that permeates society and also the reality of the treatment of victims of sexual assault by the state. Every single day women who are assaulted are doubted and blamed by the cops and the courts while perpetrators walk free.
One in four women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. Women have had enough of being blamed, shamed and harassed into silence about their abuse. Women have had enough of being shamed and blamed for what they wear, for being assertive and for expressing their sexuality. It is this reality that explains why the SlutWalks have struck a chord and are rapidly spreading across the world - sometimes it takes just a small spark to set off a wildfire.
Almost all women have experienced "slut-shaming" - either for their sexual expression or because they dared to speak out or rock the boat in some way. Slut-shaming is a weapon against all women. One of my most common experiences of slut-shaming is when I have been speaking out politically - whether it be leading a protest or campaigning on the street - many, many times opponents have sexualised my activity in an attempt to shame and silence me. It is all about power - slut-shaming is a weapon in the ongoing war against women which is fought to keep women silent about their oppressions; to keep women "in their place" - in the roles that capitalist society demands.
So when people ask "do I have to dress as a slut" to go on the slutwalk, I think the answer is "yes" and "no" - because the enemy will try to use the weapon of slut-shaming no-matter what women wear. I'll sure be dressed as a slut - just as I am every day, complete with socialist newspapers to sell - because that's what I've been doing most times when people have tried to "slut-shame" me!
Appropriating language
The reality is that the oppressed have always had to fight for language that they can use to define themselves - it is a crucial part of developing a sense of collective strength and pride. The queer movement has a long history of appropriating words used by the oppressor - the word queer itself being a good example (the appropriation of which was also challenged from some quarters). While slut has various different meanings and obviously different uses - if we take one meaning - that it describes a woman who enjoys consensual sex and perhaps lots of it - there is no word in the English language that I can think of that a woman can identify as that doesn't have negative connotations. The words carry negative connotations because society stigmatises women's sexuality - that is the problem, not the words themselves.
The fact is that there are many women who are comfortable with the word slut and women who take pride in being a slut. So while not everyone will use the word in relation to themselves, to say "no-one is a slut" as I have heard many people argue is really just plain dodgy, divisive and exclusionary.
Some people have a problem with a word such as slut when it has been used against them in a derogatory way - sometimes associated with violence. That is the case with all words that the oppressed use to describe themselves. In my experience, the word woman has been used in just such a way - but we can't give up all the words and language that the enemy uses to demean us or we are left with nothing to define ourselves and develop a common identity.
While I understand that some people will have negative associations with the word slut, I don't think that alone explains all the opposition to the appropriation of the word.I think that people who have a problem with appropriating the word slut need to check themselves. Is it the word or is the concept it describes that you have a problem with?
Collective action
Someone interviewed in one of the SlutWalks in the US said "when someone calls me a slut I turn around and say 'yeah, what of it, you got a problem with that, because I don't'". As part of the SlutWalks we are no longer saying it alone - we are in our tens of thousands saying "yeah, what of it, you got a problem with that, because we don't". It's mass collective action at its finest and its most challenging.
Through this collective action we can claim our space and gain strength and pride in ourselves through the strength and pride of others. I think it takes a lot of strength to proudly declare yourself a slut and not only take that word away from the enemy, but to refuse to wear the stigma that society puts on women for being themselves. So when I see these awesome marches around the world where thousands of people are declaring pride in being sluts then I feel inspired by that strength. And I'll be extremely proud to be part of a movement that takes a stand against slut-shaming of all kinds, including the extremely shameful and ongoing history of slut-shaming within the feminist movement.
This powerful collective action needs to continue and build on the awesome momentum the SlutWalks have created. The positive media attention will die down and as the movement gains success, the establishment will become a lot more hostile. Because they know that it is their system that breeds the culture of misogyny that underlies the brutal reality of sexual assault. If the movement is to succeed it must strike at the heart of the problem and that means taking aim at the system that breeds sexism and misogyny.
That's why we need a movement that declares from the start that it will keep fighting until it wins, no matter what barriers it faces. We need a movement that will not sell-out and will not compromise like so many of the leaders of our movements have done before.
We need a movement with a vision of a new society where women will no longer feel any shame or guilt for being who they are. Because that is what this is about. This movement is not just fighting to take the power away from a word - it is fighting to take away the shame, the guilt and the threat that women face for being themselves. That's exactly what the women's liberation movement has always been about - but this time the movement has to finish the job - this time we need to keep fighting until we win.
Sluts and allies unite! For a feminist revolution!
0 comments:
Post a Comment