That Girl from Derwent dwells on the value of religion this Christmas.
That Girl from Derwent has learned a few more things about prejudice since moving up North.
That Girl From Derwent reckons if you're going to be offensive, you should find a better reason.
That Girl from Derwent considers why it is that some words have wider implications than others.
Sexual violence in all its forms is being denounced on these marches, but specifically being targeted is the regressive focus on clothing when the victim is female – dressing ‘like a slut’ does not mean you were ‘asking for it.’ This grassroots feminist movement has swept across Canada, the US and now Europe, heralded by some as the most successful in the last twenty years.
There is a problem, however. Despite oft-repeated worries that young people are becoming increasingly apathetic to feminism, reactions to the Slutwalks have varied from the positive to outright moral panic. How could women prancing through the streets in their underwear ever be empowering? How could they ever hope to reclaim a word so derogatory as ‘slut’? And if we can’t find a unifying aim, how can the movement affect change?
Anyone concerned with such questions would have been instantly heartened by the Slutwalks in Newcastle and Manchester. Men and women, young and old, marched together with one clear aim: to end victim-blaming in rape cases. On these marches, there was no deliberation about whether the word ‘slut’ can be reclaimed (I believe any word can – the history of ‘queer’ is a fantastic example). People simply emblazoned these four powerful letters across their backs, their faces and their chests, because they were not ashamed by what the word represents. They refused to accept that ‘slut’ implies a lack of morals, or a desperation to engage in sexual activity, and certainly not that the label justifies sexual violence. Instead, they appeared to confront the term head-on by embracing some or all of these meanings: I enjoy sex; I enjoy my body; I am sexually promiscuous; I have my own style of dress - so why should it be a word of shame?
Unfortunately, those commenting on the marches from the outside seem to have failed to make a crucial distinction. There has been a repeated concern that women should not think they can go out in their skimpiest outfits wherever they like, and not expect some reaction; furthermore, that there is no difference from doing so on a Friday night in town and a Friday night on a protest against rape. Well, here’s news for you: there is a difference. The majority of people I witnessed on the marches were not dressed in revealing outfits; those that were, however, did not fill me, or any other young, sexually-active person on the march, with uncontrollable lust. Why? Because they were dressing this way to make a strong point: even in this outfit, I do not deserve to be raped. That does not herald a break-down of morals, nor a new generation of young women who will now pop to the shops in their undies, and damn you if you try to stop us! It heralds a wave of confrontational feminist protest that drives the message home – our bodies, our rights, our streets.
So the message of the Slutwalk is not muddled, nor was there fierce infighting about what the movement should represent amongst its supporters in Newcastle or in Manchester. It is not exclusive to those who wish to reclaim the label ‘slut’ (that is a label one should appropriate, not have forced upon you) instead, it is simply a movement for anyone who hates victim-blaming, slut-shaming, and sexual violence.
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