Some things are just so ripe for parody they barely require jokes, which is why this post lacks even a clever title. (I mean, how the fuck am I supposed to top that phrase for eye-catchability?) Nope, the title of this post refers not to a promisucous method of locomotion nor some website where one can Google the fastest and least conspicuous walk-of-shame route home, (hmm, slutwalk.com ...I could totally see that...options for routes that take you past places you can get breakfast, streets where one can hail cabs or clothing stores to buy an outer layer of clothing so everyone doesn't know you're wearing the same clothes from yesterday...is that taken yet? If not, it's mine, bitch!) but an international event, coming soon to a city near you!
Where in the hell could one possibly get an idea like this and for what purpose? Well, for starters, we actually can blame Canada. This thing got and spread its legs in Toronto a few weeks ago when a police officer told a personal security class that they could "avoid being victimized by not dressing like a slut". Make of that sentence what you will, but what a group of women in Toronto made of it was a 1,000 woman march of scantily clad women defending and demanding their right to...um...dress like sluts. They were outraged at the suggestion that being dressed like something out of the back of an independent newspaper would garner negative attention. Of course, a thousand women deep, no one was victimized, the march passed without incident, a tour of North America was planned, and the entire incident was cheered as a victory for women's rights...or...something. Of course, the question here is...what the fuck?
Since when did sluttiness become a positive attribute? Why are women out there marching for their right to resemble dickholsters? With all the problems out there facing women today...domestic violence, breast cancer, workplace discrimination, no more Oprah episode...you pick THIS cause to get riled up for? Really? A slut walk? It's not even like it's a word with colloquial connotations that can be reclaimed. It's just a foul-ass word. I mean, I can get away with calling bitches bitches, the bitches call other bitches that all the time and don't seem to particularly mind me doing so, as long as it's in the correct context...but let me call a bitch a slut without wearing an athletic cup and the only person who will regret it more than me are my kids who will never be born. Why would anybody want to be labeled a slut? Susan B. Anthony risked being tarred and feathered so women could vote, in twentyleven we're struggling over the right to wear a bra as clothing or a negligee to the supermarket. Where the fuck are we at as a society?
(I need you to read this next paragraph v e r y carefully...don't comment with no bullshit, please.)
Not only that, but...it's not like Officer Maple Leaf didn't have a point. I don't have any statistics to back me up, so honestly I'm quite fucked if you call me on that...but it would certainly stand to reason that people who lock their doors are less likely to be a target for home invasion. It would also make sense that a locked car is less likely to be stolen, that carefully watched children are less likely to get snatched, that money kept hidden from others is less likely to be hidden from you later, or that your girlfriend is far less likely to find all those nekkid pics in your phone if you keep that secure too. See where I'm going with this? I'm not, repeat, not, one mo'ginn, NOT saying that women who choose to look like they cost $50 deserve to be attacked...just saying there are certain steps one can take to decrease the likelihood of being targeted, and keeping one's nipples on the inside when you're on the outside is one of those steps.
Of course, who gives a damn what I think...the Slut Walk will be in Philadelphia on June 17, and I'm sure there will be a very heavy turnout (if only to self-identify). People will wear whatever they want, and that's cool with me...hell, I'm definitely not gonna sit here and say women should wear those black ghost costumes some Muslim women wear or anything, but realize there are certain inherent risks to wearing any controversial clothing. An "I (heart) the KKK" t-shirt, while perfectly legal to wear, might get your face stomped down your throat if worn in the wrong area. A Speedo worn to Wal-Mart technically falls within the limits of the law, but will get you put on somebody's Facebook wall as a funny picture (I know that because I would be the guy to do it).
Hell...a red shirt could get you shot in the wrong hood...so why are we surprised that people who dress like hoes are often mistaken for them? Who knows...all I know is I'm strongly debating renting an electric blue leisure suit, feathered hat and a bejeweled cane and standing near the Slut Walk when it comes handing out fake job applications just for fun. Hey...that's what sluts are good for, right? Now get out there and get me my mon-aaaaay....lol...
16 reasons this post doesnt suck:
Why am I not surprised you posted about this??
And sadly, I have to admit I agree with you. If it walks like a duck and dresses like a duck and acts like a duck...well...quack it.
I had heard about that officer who caught flack for advising women to not dress like sluts in order to avoid getting raped. I thought the subsequent pc outrage from feminists was unnecessary. It seemed like the connotation they heard was that women who dressed like sluts deserved to get rape because they shouldn't have that freedom, which I think was a deliberate misrepresentation of what he said. No one accuses officers who advise anyone to avoid walking in dark places alone at night of trying to curtail people's individual freedom of movement and insinuating that people who do so deserve to get robbed.
If anyone is refuting the idea that dressing like a sex object puts you at greater risk of being treated like a sex object by rapists, they could've refuted it intelligently without the overreaction.
We as women have this misplaced sense of entitlement which i think comes from the media in that we are exempt from judgments if they are negative or that the rules do not apply. Preconceived notions are a bitch, but if one can go out of his or her way to avoid the negative stigma it will bring, then why not do it. Not inferring that all women who dress provocatively deserve to be raped, but if youre at the bar with your tittays all out, having some guy foot your bill while you bat your eyes and then you wont give him any play, how dare you get offended if he gets forceful. Great blog!-
Normally I enjoy your posts, but you blew it this time. Your entire post reeks of slut-shaming and victim-blaming. No man has a right to rape a woman ever, and women have a right to dress and act as they please without getting raped. Or, have some man who will probably never have the experience of being raped ridicule them for making a statement.
The slut walks are aimed at men like you who think sluttiness is some kind of fault and that if sluts were a little more careful they wouldn't need to worry about rape. Women have a right to their sexuality just as you do. To equate a sexually liberated woman with a $50 prostitute is shameful.
If you don't mind, I would like to repost this in its entirety. It's a post that begs to be ripped apart sentence by sentence.
Even more disappointing are the three previous comments by women who agree with you. How about some solidarity, ladies? It is up to you to straighten AJ out, not cheer him on. Please realize that 1 in 6 women are victims of sexual assault. That is a national shame.
Ladies, thank you for your comments, I appreciate the view from the other side. (oh, and melisa b, welcome to umf! :) )
Now, for you, Johann...you know I respect your opinion, and I'm happy I can call folk like you my readers, but based on your comment I'm not sure whether you misinterpreted what I said.
Feel free to shred my post up, but before you do that I hope you'll allow me the courtesy of some reposting and dissection of my own later today, after that you can fire away...thanks for that!
Sadly, AJ, I have to agree with Johann on this one. How a woman dresses is completely irrelevant to the incidence of rape. The onus of rape falls completely on the rapist, and such men would attack women even if they were shielded from head to toe in a suit of armor.
COMPLETELY irrelevant? I can't agree there...it's a hell of a lot harder in a suit of armor, in that case I think the creep might find someone easier to take advantage of (or a big can opener).
All jokes aside, I have no idea where this idea that I'm "blaming" the victim is coming from. I went out of my way to say rape is never deserved...it's a crime, and like any other crime, the criminal is the person who did it. However, it can't be overlooked that criminals tend to take the path of least percieved resistance during the commission of any illegal act...that's all I said.
Sure, dissect away. I'll wait. Gives me time to sharpen my knives.
Wow. I think it's pretty interesting that the women are going one way and the men are going the other. I'm not going to buck that trend.
Rape is a violent act. There is no way around that. Women dressed all sorts of ways have been victims of it. But dressing provacatively invites sexual attention, both the good and the bad. There isn't a woman out there that doesn't know this.
I think Boo said it best: "If anyone is refuting the idea that dressing like a sex object puts you at greater risk of being treated like a sex object by rapists, they could've refuted it intelligently without the overreaction."
I would have liked to see them try to refute that, though, when history has proven it correct time and time, again.
A woman can dress any way she wants. That's the PC thing to say. But that doesn't mean potential consequences no longer exist.
This is a tough one for me. On one hand I agree with the officer's comment. It was on the order of, "don't leave valuables in your car." It was meant to show people how to avoid being a victim of a crime, and not endorsing the actions of rapists (or car burglars). Just recognizing the realities of our world.
On the other hand, if I was that cop's supervisor I would fire his ass for making such a stupid statement. Of course it would interpreted as sexist and demeaning. What the hell was he thinking? He was willing to state one certainty (that women who dress sexually provacative are more likely to be raped) without recognizing another facet of our lives - namely that if you say something controversial it will be blown completely out of proportion.
I respect the writing and opinions of both Johann and NP, but in this case I think I fall on the opposite side of the fence from them.
There are certain realities we all have to face, and pointing out the injustices in this world is not the same as endorsing them.
Just an FYI most rape/sexual assult comes from people women already know. I think I'm riding with Johann on this one. Rape is not even about sex. Its not like rapist are just horny men running around so they go after women with the least amount of clothes on. Its about control and it just so happens that sex is used as that control. I'm sure any lady who has commented on this post can think of a time when you felt uncomfortable around a man/men when you weren't dressed like a slut.
I agree with Johann and Sheena. "Women have a right to their sexuality just as you do. To equate a sexually liberated woman with a $50 prostitute is shameful."
"Rape is not even about sex. Its not like rapist are just horny men running around so they go after women with the least amount of clothes on. Its about control and it just so happens that sex is used as that control. "
The young women of today who are claiming the label "feminist" and claiming they want to take back the slut label are not the same as feminists that have gone before them.
If you are raped, if you are abused, if you are assaulted, be prepared for no one to believe you. Be prepared for the excuses people will make for the men who have done this, be prepared to have your character come into question.
Despite the fact that young women today have such low self-esteem as to present themselves to drunken males as slabs of meat in the local meat markets called bars, no woman should ever be told that she must stay off the streets in order to ‘avoid being raped’ or that her clothing, or her level of intoxication somehow made her deserving of sexual assault.
Once aging the focus is on female behavior and not on the behavior of males who concoct every lie and excuse in the book to get way with sexual assaults and rape. Why am I not surprised? Because we have not "come a long way baby". Male behaviors are where they have always been at -- nothing has changed.
I'm not really anonymous. What happened is the fields for Name and URL were not presented to me and my comment posted without them.
If I knew all I had to do was mention sluts and their walking to get that kind of attention, I would have done it a long time ago! Thanks for your input everybody on both sides...for any further fresh rebuttal, check out the first half of Wednesday's post...
It's an extreme statement saying that even if we are dressed like a "slut" we shouldn't be allowed to be thrown down and raped.
Obviously, people are getting crazy in dress for the protests to attract attention. But they have a point, it doesn't matter how I look, you don't get to do what you want with me. I am not property, even if I look like a whore.
And you'd be surprised how easily people will label a woman a whore, even for something as simple as a slightly shorter skirt.
It's an extreme statement saying that even if we are dressed like a "slut" we shouldn't be allowed to be thrown down and raped.
Obviously, people are getting crazy in dress for the protests to attract attention. But they have a point, it doesn't matter how I look, you don't get to do what you want with me. I am not property, even if I look like a whore.
And you'd be surprised how easily people will label a woman a whore, even for something as simple as a slightly shorter skirt.
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