Would you march in a SlutWalk?
Published in Cosmopolitan, July 2011. Copyright Rachel Hills 2011.
A new movement wants to end the blame put on sexual assault victims and reclaim the word used to shame all women…
It’s outspoken, it’s attention grabbing and it’s a little bit controversial. After launching in Toronto in April – and following events in Vancouver and Boston – the SlutWalk has landed in Australia. And it’s gaining support rapidly, with marches happening in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.
SlutWalk is a global grassroots movement with two aims: to challenge the stereotypes linked to how rape happens and to reclaim a word that has the power to shame and silence women: “slut.” As cofounder Sonya Barnett put it at the first SlutWalk: “We are here because we have had enough. Enough of being told we should be ashamed of ourselves, ashamed of our appearance, ashamed of our pleasures and ashamed of being victimised.”
Barnett, a thirtysomething art director, founded SlutWalk with her friend Heather Jarvis after a Toronto police officer advised a group of female university students to “avoid dressing like sluts” if they didn’t want to be victimised. Not content to seethe over the remark on Facebook, the pair decided, “Something had to be done,” says Barnett. And so SlutWalk was born.
A global issue
The attitudes that inspired SlutWalk are common in Australia, too. Think Sheikh al-Hilaly, the controversial Muslim cleric who, in 2006, likened women to “uncovered meat”, whose presence tempted stray cats … er, men. Or former AFL player Peter “Spida” Everitt, who, following sexual assault allegations against two Collingwood players last year, tweeted: “Girls!! When will you learn! At 3am when you are blind drunk & you decide to go home with a guy IT’S NOT FOR A CUP OF MILO! Allegedly.”
Attitudes like these – that if you’re drunk, wearing a short skirt, or walking alone at night you’re in some way responsible for your assault – are present in our police force, too. “Rape victims are frequently shamed by police when they report and [are] interrogated about what they were wearing and how much alcohol they had,” says Nina Funnell, a sexual assault survivor and victims’ advocate.
SlutWalk is also a response to the way “slut” is used to shame all women. “The word ‘slut’ is used to police not just sexual behaviour, but the way women present themselves,” explains Dr Kath Albury, author of Yes Means Yes: Getting Explicit About Heterosex and The Porn Report. “So if you get breasts before the girls in your class, people will call you a slut. If boys pay attention to you, people will call you a slut. It’s not about how many people you have sex with.”
“‘Slut’ is used to silence women,” says Funnell. “There is not a lot you can say when someone calls you a slut.” And SlutWalk is all about speaking out.
Will it work?
But, for all its support, SlutWalk has also attracted its share of critics. Writer Melinda Tankard Reist worries the movement “will increase harassment of women and girls, because ‘slut’ will be seen as some kind of compliment with so many women marching under that banner”.
Tankard Reist points to posts from men on Facebook proclaiming their love for sluts. “They don’t seem to be picking up on any satire,” she observes. “And why would they? Porn culture reinforces the idea that all women are sluts.”
But that any woman has the potential to be a “slut” – no matter what she wears or how she behaves – is exactly the point of SlutWalk. While media coverage has focused on some SlutWalkers’ bold costumes, most turn up in everyday clothes. As Jessica, 24, says: “I’m wearing what I usually wear while asking not to be sexually assaulted: heels, red lipstick and a vintage dress.”
Barnett admits that SlutWalk’s name has helped the movement gain traction, but is quick to point out that the word “slut” is used because it was the word used by the officer who inspired the movement. “If he had said something else, we would have called it something else,” she explains.
And while Barnett believes SlutWalk’s “audacious attitude” and “fresh face” have worked in its favour, the reason so many women are getting behind it is because the issues it addresses are universal and widespread. “Women are telling us, ‘Thank you for making me feel unashamed about what happened,’” she says.
So with 75 cities (and counting) signed up to march, what’s next? Barnett has plans to make it an annual event, with
a walk in Toronto next year, merchandise and a revamped website with resources for satellite groups and education programs.
“Reclamation of language can happen,” she says. “People are very sensitive about the word ‘slut’, but we’re not the first ones to reclaim language. Gay people had ‘queer’ … slung at them; they slung it right back.”
Slutwalkers speak out
We asked four Australians why they’re joining the march.
“I’ll walk to show my solidarity with others. No matter what choices you make, or how sexually active you are, no one ‘invites’ sexual violence.” Senthorun, 22, Sydney
“I think the name is tongue-in-cheek. The organisers are trying to express that they, and women who believe in this cause, will not be hurt by the word ‘slut’.” Cherie, 21, Melbourne
“The word ‘slut’ is a get-out-of-jail-free card that shifts the blame from those who rape to those who get raped – and that’s unacceptable.” Jessica, 24, Melbourne
“SlutWalk sends a hopeful and powerful message that, as women, we can wear what we want and should be able to enjoy as much or as little sex as we like without being slutshamed.” Claire, 30, Sydney
