Congruity (Home)

ah, pedantry

Interesting post about how teachers aren’t just lauded as heroes, they are pressured to be heroes.

jesternoir:

I am not a slut, I do not wish to be labeled as one.  There is nothing ‘ironic’ or satyrical about calling one’s self a slut.  It is something that I do not wish to reclaim.  It is a hurtful and derogitory term, one that I find is used more often by women to put other women down than by men condoning rape.  True, it was used in the comment from the toronto policemen which sparked Slutwalk, so there is a basis for the use of the word in this context.

…

There was a Slutwalk in Canberra recently, (which I was contemplating going to, but had to make props for the show instead) and I would love to hear from anyone who went.  Why did you go?  What is your opinion?  If you didn’t go, why?

I went to SlutWalk Canberra last weekend and I agree with feeling a bit funny about the name ‘SlutWalk’.

The main idea that nobody should be raped, ever, regardless of what they wear, is worth fighting for. In my opinion, it was worth showing up for that alone. Interestingly, at the event they did have someone who identifies as a ‘second wave feminist’ who did have her reservations about using the word ‘slut’ and attempting to reclaim it.

I think I come from a different perspective though. I don’t think that being a ‘slut’ is inherently a good thing or a bad thing. Being called a ‘slut’ or using the word ‘slut’ to justify rape is clearly bad though. In my opinion, there is a need to diffuse the word. Calling someone a ‘slut’ shouldn’t have all those negative connotations, it should be like calling someone a ‘second year student’ or ‘a collector of lamps’. As in, it might be slightly descriptive or whatever, but it doesn’t really mean much, it doesn’t call into question their moral fibre and it certainly doesn’t suggest that they ask to be raped.

For me, my initial problem was that the word ‘slut’ is non-inclusive. I am not a ‘slut’. I’ve never been called a slut.  I’m neither proud nor ashamed of this fact, I’m just simply not one (in the same way I’m not a lamp collector). I felt (and did so quite rightly) that just because someone isn’t a slut, doesn’t mean that they aren’t at risk of being sexually assaulted, nor does it mean that they wouldn’t be blamed if they were to be sexually assaulted. After all, if the New York Times can blame an 11 year old girl for her own gang rape, then clearly there’s more to victim blaming than just whether or not someone is actually a slut (though they do make reference to clothes and her friends as suggestive of being flirtatious and acting ‘older than she is’, but her sexual history doesn’t exactly feature here).

Yet, I realised that what I kind of get the feeling of, from reading so much about the movement and of others’ stories, is that every woman (not just woman, but victim) can be pegged as being a slut, and it is more than just the way one dresses or acts. You can do up your buttons right to the collar and be saving yourself for marriage, that doesn’t mean that you won’t be blamed for your own sexual assault. You were walking alone, you chose a bad guy to go out with, you shouldn’t have been alone in a room with a person you’ve known for 10 years because you knew they were creepy, your judgement was impacted because you can’t control your intake of alcohol or coffee or red cordial or whatever it takes to get the message that you did things wrong. Somehow, it is going to be blamed on the victim. So, your sexual history doesn’t matter, you will still be told by some members of society, in essence, that you are a slut, you’re careless, you were asking for it.

I’m not sure what the initial intention for SlutWalk was, but with all these thoughts in mind, I took to the streets understanding that anyone can be a slut in the same way that anyone can be a victim of rape. SlutWalk, in turn answered back, saying ‘yeah, we might be sluts, but that doesn’t mean we deserve to be raped’. It is about making the word a descriptor rather than being so morally loaded as to ignore the extremely distressing figures on sexual assault and the horrific experiences of many people. Claiming the word is like removing it as a barrier to understanding and activism, even if the word doesn’t quite ring true to me.