Friend or Foe of Feminism?
December 1, 2011
SlutWalks rally against rape, victim-blaming
“Women should avoid dressing like sluts in order to not be victimized.” Constable Michael Sanguinetti of the Toronto police department made this offensive claim at a crime prevention talk at York University last January. His statement spread via social media sites, invoking rage amongst feminists everywhere. In April, thousands of people in Toronto marched to reclaim the word “slut.” Thus, SlutWalks began. SlutWalk has transformed into a transnational movement working to protest rape culture and victim-blaming.
Sanguinetti was not the first person to imply that that women dressing a certain way are asking to be raped. But the public nature of his comment spurred a movement because these statements ignore the fundamental problem of rape. Anyone claiming women’s outfits provoke rape is blaming the victim. Victim-blaming occurs when some of the guilt over an act is transferred from the perpetrator to the victim. This is a fundamental issue of patriarchal society. Women’s consent is essentially deemed irrelevant.
Samantha Abril CMC '13 and Malissa Gaitan CMC '14 at SlutWalk LA. (Photo courtesy of Samantha Abril)
Rather than examining women’s actions, society should be examined. Statements like Sanguinetti’s support rape culture, where assault against women is normalized, men and women are hyper-masculinized or hyper-feminized, and people may view certain outfits as an invitation for sex. Rape culture is a serious topic, yet public discourse on the topic is sporadic. According to Claremont McKenna Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies Audrey Bilger, SlutWalk has “revived that conversation in ways that are international and really public.”
SlutWalk should be reviving important conversations, but its methods are problematic. The women participating in the marches are attempting to reclaim the word “slut.” Reclaiming a word is always ambitious, but this word is particularly difficult because it brings a racial divide. What SlutWalk organizers do not recognize is that “slut” has a different meaning for women of color than it does for white women. Several prominent black feminists and their allies have written “An Open Letter to SlutWalk Organizers from Black Women,” which outlines their complaints, stating that rape, like the word “slut,” is “tied to [their] particular history,” one of slavery and Jim Crow.
“For white women who are relatively privileged, [slut] is a word that they can play around with freely perhaps more readily than black women can, for instance, or Latinas, or Asian American women, or Asian women, or women in other parts of the world,” Bilger explained. She also cited feminist ideas about “interlocking forms of oppression and argue[ments] that sexism is linked to racism is linked to homophobia is linked to classism.” It is important that a movement against sexism is also a movement against all forms of oppression.
Moreover, SlutWalk uses “branding” to grab attention. In essence, the organizers are turning their movement into a commodity. This makes the movement accessible to the public, so that people not well-versed in feminist ideology can still understand and support the movement. However, according to Bilger, “Getting attention is a double-edged sword. The word ‘slut’ is deliberately provocative in SlutWalk and therefore a lot of media attention has been paid to it that isn’t particularly nuanced.”
Malissa Gaitan CMC ’14, a member of Claremont’s Women’s Forum, attended SlutWalk LA last June. Gaitan also worries that “the media portrayal tends to misinterpret such rallies as angry and radical.” The problem is that the movement is complex and just focusing on reclaiming the word “slut” does not portray every aspect of the rape issue. Branding also affects who decides to participate in the marches.
In spite of the issues surrounding Slut- Walks, not everyone has a negative experi- ence at them. Gaitan loved that SlutWalk LA “gave the victims the power to overcome whatever atrocity they had undergone” and that “many supporters…came out from many demographics.” SlutWalks can be therapeutic for survivors of rape. Although the movement may be focusing too much on other issues, Gaitan’s experience proves that SlutWalks are still effective in relaying messages about rape culture.
Still, it is important that the organizers behind SlutWalk change their movement to one of inclusivity and complexity in order to focus even more on rape culture. Gaitan claims that “the main message was that being a slut is a personal choice, and as long as sex is consensual, there should be not a problem.” While this may have been clear at SlutWalk LA, it is not as apparent at all SlutWalks. As Professor Bilger notes, “The main message that no woman is ever asking to be raped is a serious one. We have to underline that multiple times. No matter what someone is wearing, they’re never asking to be raped.”
You go, girl.
They’re branding. This is capitalism after all. Good for them. The problem with victim-blaming is that it’s taken for granted so the more attention these campaigns get, the better.
I live in South Africa. It is probably the crime capital of the world. At school, in six months, I had almost R1000 of stationary stolen from me. I decided to take better care of my things and consequently had nothing stolen from me in the next two and a half years. Even though I know the reality in SA is bad and should be changed, I realise however that in the meantime IT IS a reality.
The same goes with rape. Rape is wrong and shouldn’t happen. However, the reality is that it does happen. So now what is a woman to do? She should protect herself by any means possible – so what if that includes covering herself a little more? Why is it a problem that she is taking action to protect herself? Is it because it will make those ladies who were raped while dressed less modestly feel badly? Is it because it proves that we should take more responsibility for our own lives? Is it because it proves that actions have consequences?
Thanda, I definitely agree with you about taking steps to protect yourself. I read an article recently that was written by a man who talked about attending a gender studies class. He recalled that on the first day, the professor separated the class by gender and had them write on the board the steps they took in their daily lives to avoid being sexually assaulted. The women’s side was full; the men’s was empty. While I do agree that there is a smart and cautious way to conduct oneself to avoid being raped, I definitely agree with the SlutWalk’s point that women should not have to live in a climate of fear, or be taken less seriously as the victim of a horrific crime because of what they were wearing. You’re right, women can avoid such blame by dressing modestly, but that should not be a deciding factor in how a rape victim is judged. Unless some woman literally approaches a man and says “Could you please rape me?”, no woman is ever “Asking for it”. We live in the 21st century in one of the most affluent and safe nations in the world; we should be able to wear what we want without fear.
Feminism is sexist. Would you object to a society that only allowed and supported Men?
I can think of several private organizations that only allow men who have been pilloried by womens groups. . .. but it is ok still to have womens colleges – and an organization that supports women and women alone?
How is that fair?
How is it not discriminatory on its face?
Feminism is sexist and illegal and if you really think about it, against everything you supposedly believe in as a feminist.
We have these all-female institutions because the world is basically an organization that supports men and (for the most part) men alone. Men do not NEED groups to promote their interests, because their interests are already embedded in the structure of our society.
Think about it this way: if the United States is around 50% female, then shouldn’t women be holding half the positions of office, or running half of the most successful companies? We have never had a female president, the Senate has only 17 women out of 100 possible seats, the House of Representatives has only 75 women out of 435 possible seats, and only 12 of the 500 largest corporations in America are run by women. This is not because women are less capable, or because more women want to stay in the home than go run the country. Half of the work force is female–but this half of the work force is seriously disadvantaged, receiving lower pay, fewer promotions, and fewer opportunities.
Fairness is not treating everyone equally, it is realizing that everyone is not being treated equally and doing something about it.