I’m not walking in SlutWalk 2012 Toronto tonight, and it’s not just because I’m out of the province.
I am not a person who is always politically moved, and for the most part I’m pretty live and let live. I’m happy to see people standing up for what they believe in. Normally, if I don’t agree with an issue or if I simply am unmoved by a statement I will ignore it or express my non-support by simply not participating. However, the SlutWalk movement is not one I can get behind, and now that it is an annual event, it is not one that I want to disagree with silently.
My opinion may be an unpopular one, but for what it’s worth, here it is. My reasons for speaking out against the Walk are as follows:
1. I dislike the word “slut” and it is not a word that I feel I need or want to reclaim. I would argue that I am a fairly liberated woman. In the context of SlutWalk, I would argue that I wear what I want to, when I want to and that I have sex where and when I want to with partners of my choosing and I have had more casual flings and one night stands than relationships. I live my life to my own standards, and I don’t apologize for my choices, “promiscuous” or otherwise. I suppose I qualify then, but I don’t feel like that requires a label.
I do not feel “oppressed” by “slut shaming” because I am not ashamed. To me, that is what it means to take ownership of my decisions.
2. In response to the statements on the SlutWalk Facebook page, event page, and the statements of supporters:
“My body is not an insult.”
Duh. Of course it isn’t.
“Because not being assaulted is not a luxury.”
I’m being picky, but this doesn’t actually make sense, it’s a weird double negative. What they mean is that it is my right not to be assaulted. This is a valid statement. One I believe in. But again, that this right is associated with my right to be a “slut,” in my opinion, detracts from the importance of the statement.
“Because I should be able to wear whatever I want, wherever I want, whenever I want, without fear.”
I agree, in a perfect world there would be no consequences and I would practice this philosophy, but we do not live in an Edenic society. We cannot live completely without fear simply because there are things to be afraid of.
I recently watched a television show reflecting on various SlutWalk events in the past year. In the show a neighbourhood was terrorized by a serial rapist. The responses of some of the activists in the episode were similar to the statement above. I know that this was a fictional account and I want my recognition of that to be clear. However, I also know that this fictionalized sentiment is echoed by people in my own life. I don’t disagree with the statement, but there is a point where you have to take personal safety into account. It doesn’t mean you should lock yourself away, but if I knew that there was a serial rapist in my neighbourhood I would exercise some kind of extra caution. At a certain point (and I do not presume define where that point is), we all have to take some amount of responsibility for our own safety. Should I feel unsafe walking alone through the city at night? Should I feel/be unsafe taking the alley shortcut home? No. I shouldn’t, but the reality is that it can be unsafe and somewhere on the line, risks need to be calculated.
Finally, I think that this is another statement that detracts from a very real issue. One of the mandates of the SlutWalk is to reduce victim blaming. Because a victim is dressed a certain way or acts a certain way in their personal life does not mean that they “asked for it” to any degree. I agree. I think victim blaming is a big problem. It is an important topic to take issue with, but I don’t see this statement doing it. It draws attention to clothing again, not to the important point that in the messed up mind of an attacker any clothing and any behaviour could be interpreted as “slutty.” No one can predict the way other people’s minds interpret information and what is “slutty” to one may not be “slutty” to another. And then there’s the whole matter of degree.
3. SlutWalk seems to support and embolden “traditional” ideas about gender and, in fact, seems to perpetuate the idea that marginalized groups are more sympathetic victims. Victims, like victimizers, come in all shapes and sizes, yet I feel that SlutWalk implies that women are the victims and men the victimizers. I am aware that the organizers have invited ALL people to participate and show support, but I also feel that it then takes the position that “sluttiness” is outwardly apparent. I very much doubt that. In fact, I will be so bold as to say that I know it to be untrue.
I would like to conclude by saying that I support the issue taken with the original statement that sparked the SlutWalk movement. The police officer who said “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized” is an idiot. As I have already stated, people get attacked for all sorts of reasons and attackers make all sorts of justifications. What are the degrees of “sluttiness”? Why is it about what I’m wearing? You never know what triggers an attacker and to say that some arbitrary degree of “sluttiness” is to blame is stupid, but I think that this point has actually become buried by the Walk and its statement that the word “slut” needs to be reclaimed. We do not need to reclaim the word, we need to make corrections to the way the public, specifically individuals like the above police officer, perceive victims and we need to educate the public about the psychology of victimizers.
Finally, I’m not writing this post to lash out, or put down anyone who does support SlutWalk, and it is not my intention to offend or undermine. My intention is to speak up because, as a card-carrying feminist “slut,” I cannot support this movement. I’m not going to ask you to stop walking, but I will not.
