18 May 2011

Slutwalk comes to Canberra

18 May 2011 | johnboy

With gender studies academics waging war through opinion columns on the global phenomena that is Slutwalk it was just a matter of time and now Facebook informs that Canberra women too will get their chance to dress trashy, and walk:

We are tired of being oppressed by slut-shaming; of being judged by our sexuality and feeling unsafe as a result. Being in charge of our sexual lives should not mean that we are opening ourselves to an expectation of violence, regardless if we participate in sex for pleasure or work. No one should equate enjoying sex with attracting sexual assault.

We are asking you to join us for SlutWalk, to make a unified statement about sexual assault and victims’ rights and to demand respect for all. Whether a fellow slut or simply an ally, you don’t have to wear your sexual proclivities on your sleeve, we just ask that you come. Any gender-identification, any age. Singles, couples, parents, sisters, brothers, children, friends. Come walk or roll or strut or holler or stomp with us.

Join us in our mission to spread the word that those those who experience sexual assault are not the ones at fault, without exception.”
(http://www.slutwalktoronto.com/)

Ladies we salute you.

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creative_canberran12:17 am 07 Jun 11

creative_canberran said :

The people behind this are from ANU and generally the same people behind recent protests over HECS, Same-Sex Marriage and library mergers. No matter how good/valid the cause, all these have descended into nothing more than photo ops for the organisers. And like these other events, they copy an existing idea so not even original thinking. Just self serving and derivative.

I would like to make a correction to this comment on the record.

The first sentence was meant to say “The people behind this are from ANU and generally the same kind of people behind recent protests over HECS, Same-Sex Marriage and library mergers.”

It was meant to suggest that the people behind this are the same kind of people as organisers of various other recent events, that is ready to make a quick shout with a short slogan but nothing more substantive. It was not meant to suggest that the organisers of SlutWalk are the exact same people as the organisers of those previous events. Only that there are parallels in their methodology.

My apologies for any confusion and to the organisers.

Mr Gillespie8:33 am 06 Jun 11

Erg0 said :

#107: Reflecting on the matter, I had come to the conclusion that the point of Slutwalk should be similar to what you’re saying – i.e. “if you consider someone a slut purely because they are the victim of sexual assualt, then we are all sluts”. If that is the message, then I don’t think it’s been communicated very clearly, to the point where many of the people supporting the walk (see above) don’t appear to properly understand what it’s about. That’s the danger of using such a charged word to gather attention for your cause, I suppose.

So that means EVERYONE is a victim of sexual assault. Not just the 1 in 3 that say they are. Every man and every woman is a slut, a victim of sexual assault.

willo5:41 am 06 Jun 11

so how did it all go on the big day?

Erg09:22 am 02 Jun 11

#107: Reflecting on the matter, I had come to the conclusion that the point of Slutwalk should be similar to what you’re saying – i.e. “if you consider someone a slut purely because they are the victim of sexual assualt, then we are all sluts”. If that is the message, then I don’t think it’s been communicated very clearly, to the point where many of the people supporting the walk (see above) don’t appear to properly understand what it’s about. That’s the danger of using such a charged word to gather attention for your cause, I suppose.

markjuliansmith6:41 am 02 Jun 11

One in four women and one in 10 men are raped in their lifetime. Over 98 percent of the perpetrators are men.

Walk down the street and reflect on one in four, one in ten.

SlutWalk – Is Not about Extreme – It is about the Ordinary – Women being perceived as extreme in either dress, movement, spatial context, culture or a combination of all, a Slut –less-Other, by Man to justify Mans atrocious behavior towards Women.

There is a reticence on the part of a significant number of women and men to support the SlutWalk because of a misinformed notion SlutWalk is about promoting the acceptance of extreme behavior – being a Slut.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

SlutWalk is about the Ordinary of the condition woman find themselves in simply because they are women.

Women are not able to traverse societal space in the same way a Man does without fear of being labeled a Slut and the terrible consequences that can and does flow from such a notion.

SlutWalk is not about promoting negative behavior it is about promoting positive behavior by bringing to the attention of Society at large the notion of being ‘a Slut’, is not only completely inequitable, for clearly it does not apply to Man, but as important is being utilized to control and subject women to Mans abuse.

SlutWalk is bringing to the fore Simply being a women whether your dressed from head toe in black keeping to the walls or in the middle of a Public square with thousands of People women can and are regarded by Man to be Sluts-less-Other (not anyone’s daughter cousin, Mother, Aunt etc) and therefore able to be subject to harassment and rape.

Activists: Authorities release Saudi woman detained for driving From Atika Shubert, May 30, 2011 CNN
“Strict segregation by sex means women in Saudi Arabia can’t travel without a male relative or take public transportation. Many women hire expensive drivers or taxis to get around.
Al Sharif said she became frustrated after she had difficulty going home one evening.
“I had to walk on the street for half an hour looking for a cab. I was harassed by every single car because it was late at night and I was walking alone,” she told CNN. “I kept calling my brother to pick me up but his phone wasn’t answering. I was crying in the street. A 32-year-old grown woman, a mother, crying like a kid because I couldn’t find anyone to bring me home.”

The above is not to focus on a particular religion but to show whether a woman is covered from head to toe it does not matter.

Be it cultural, religious based notions supporting such a state of affairs it is a complete inequity of circumstance for Women to be treated in such a manner to keep them in line – and prevent them from traversing societal space independently and in peace.

It has to Change and it Will Change for it is based on an irrational perception based on certain societal foundation text Women are less and further Women must be kept there subject to Mans will.

As Plato advised many years ago Change the Text informing new citizens of evil against Other or Change Nothing.

If SlutWalk prevents even one more rape occurring because a Male has to reflect on the nature of determining a Woman or Man as a Slut to justify such a diabolical act then we have succeeded.

Turn Up Face Up – Change the World.

Special G7:55 pm 29 May 11

Reclaim the night – http://www.isis.aust.com/rtn/

Diggety7:27 pm 29 May 11

Jim Jones said :

LeatherJen said :

Enjoy your walk as a slut. Hopefully it changes something.

You’re completely right.

Much better to do nothing, isn’t it?

The Canadian Police officer who first made the comment was not ‘blaming victims’ or ‘justifying rape’. He was suggesting ways of preventing becoming a victim.

The comment was misunderstood by a bunch of female university students, and had a protest. Good on them I suppose; for some, the whole point of university is to look like you are ‘fightin’ the system’, it doesn’t matter on the cause. Sort of like teenagers trying to get the most ‘friends’ on facebook.

I spent a while at university and now I teach there. It will never change, it is just a phase of life.

I do think we need to bring back Comprehension 101 to all university degrees, as a core subject.

LeatherJen4:34 pm 29 May 11

Jim Jones said :

LeatherJen said :

Enjoy your walk as a slut. Hopefully it changes something.

You’re completely right.

Much better to do nothing, isn’t it?

So disagreeing with being labeled a slut means I don’t care about sexual assualt?

And this walk is the only event?

You need to get out more.

Jim Jones2:48 pm 29 May 11

LeatherJen said :

Enjoy your walk as a slut. Hopefully it changes something.

You’re completely right.

Much better to do nothing, isn’t it?

creative_canberran2:26 pm 29 May 11

Jim Jones said :

Let me get this straight – you’re not going to support the first high-profile anti-sexual-assault campaign that’s taken place in a looong time because of …. god-knows, some quibble or other – and then you complain about the negativity of others?

I’ll be at the event while you’re still whinging about it. Which one of us is negative?

Are you serious? “The first high-profile anti-sexual-assault campaign”?

It’s one day of wearing loud 80s clothing and in the case of the Brisbane march was organised by the Australian Sex Party and Fiona Pattern, who is a known advocate of the porn industry.
You need to get out more, there are dozens of campaigns targeting this, long haul campaigns both on a broad scale and at a grass roots, peer-to-peer level.
Indeed the issue of consent specifically is now also a basic and mandatory part of the curriculum in ACT High Schools.

Slut walk deals only with the apportionment of blame, arguing against the dismissive attitude of some elements of the community that a certain manner of presentation attracts or even justifies assault.

The banners at the Melbourne event ranged from “no more slut shaming” to “my lycra, if it’s good for Madonna, it’s good for me”.

The official motto of the Canberra event is “Stop slut shaming”.
The official purpose put forward is “no victim of sexual assault should ever be blamed for a crime against them.”
The word “consent” does not appear once on the SlutWalk Facebook page.

And let’s look at this little gem from the Facebook page:

“When we consider that the ANU has one of the highest incidences of sexual assault in Australia”

Go out to Alice Springs and regional communities and tell us ANU has one of the highest incidences of sexual assault. Go out there and tell them. They’ll laugh and cry telling you how high the incidences are of sexual assaults and STIs are in pre-teens and early teens. And they don’t even dress like sluts in indigenous communities. Excessive claims don’t help the cause either.

This whole thing is just an excuse for some publicity and a way to feel like you’re part of the solution. What happens in a month? A year? A decade? If sexual violence is so bad at ANU, where is the grass-roots campaign on campus to create a culture where that isn’t tolerated? Listen to people on campus talk, it’s clear the culture is one where women are easy pickings.

One day, one walk, with an ambiguous and ill though message won’t change that.

LeatherJen12:54 pm 29 May 11

Jim Jones said :

LeatherJen said :

Jim Jones said :

LeatherJen said :

Jim Jones said :

LeatherJen said :

It would be nice for something like this to separate the concepts of ‘slut’ and ‘unsafe’. It also isn’t clear whether the ‘slut’ component is about empowering womens’ sexuality, trying to gain social acceptance for behaviours that some consider undesirable or simply shock value to draw attention to the cause.

I haven’t decided whether I will participate or not yet.

Wouldn’t it be even nicer to put these sorts of minor semantic and philosophical quibbles aside and focus on supporting a high-profile event that aims to send a big message that sexual assault is never justified, no matter the circumstances?

Minor to you maybe. As a woman, these things are actually important to me.

That’s great. In that case, you can organise your own – ideologically pure – high-profile event that gets bucketloads of media attention and raises the public profile of issues of sexual assault within the community.

Let me know how that turns out.

It would be a wonderful change to actually see a positive comment from you one day. Tearing people down and working in big words as though this is an ANU Arts class is really rather sad.

Let me get this straight – you’re not going to support the first high-profile anti-sexual-assault campaign that’s taken place in a looong time because of …. god-knows, some quibble or other – and then you complain about the negativity of others?

I’ll be at the event while you’re still whinging about it. Which one of us is negative?

The problem is that I don’t want to be called a slut. I don’t like the term, and don’t think it is appropriate to label women in that way. It’s derogatory and hurtful.

Yes, it is a good cause, but the name is really just shock value. It also won’t change the opinions of men who believe that how we dress invites unwanted attention.

You clearly like the shock value, and also seem to take pleasure in the discomfort of others who while opposing violence don’t wish to be labeled a slut.

Enjoy your walk as a slut. Hopefully it changes something.

Watson9:21 am 29 May 11

The_Bulldog said :

@Watson – Who (here) is blaming the victim? Show me where people have stated this is normal, let alone even marginally acceptable? I get the impression that you think this is an issue buried within a broader trend of sexism, when I fail to see how those issues are at all relevant…

Don’t get me wrong – it’s kinda like a zombie invasion when dead things rise up to attack the innocent, and zombies are cool. Just a shame that this man-hating vitriol, while clearly dead, actually seems to gain traction amongst elements of the community who are clearly smart enough to know better.

Perhaps I’ve missed the bit whereby men (other than the odd numpty) have sated that sexual assault is something women bring on themselves. Perhaps, if this bit can’t be found, we need to pleasantly agree on most aspects of you discussions, but disagree that this is a broad problem with it’s roots embedded in men seeking the upper-hand in the still raging battle of the sexes.

To hand out leaflets on how to avoid rape with the advice “don’t dress like a slut” is basically blaming the victim before the crime has even happened. And that is all that the organisers of the rallies are saying.

If I came across as relating this to a broader sexism problem, that is probably because to me this is reminiscent of the good ole days when women were regarded as the guardians of virtue and the punishment for non-compliance was to be cast out of the tribe (ie. lose your right to protection). I stress reminiscent, because we have indeed come a long way since then. But maybe that’s why I – having grown up in a post-feminist society – am so shocked when I find examples of remnants of this attitude still being supported by SOME men. And when they are men in positions of power or the ones women are supposed to turn to when their rights have been violated, it can become somewhat problematic.

I expect to see as many men at the rally as women. Calling someone a sexist for trying to point out inequalities (whether they are about actions of attitudes) is a nice try to kill the debate.

Watson10:05 am 28 May 11

Would women assume that he was “looking for it” and proceed to rape or molest him? Probably not. Let’s ask Tony Abbott 😀

Exactly what this is campaign is about!!!

Look, I do understand where everyone is coming from with “common sense” approach to clothing and taking risks. I have struggled with this when I hear stories in the media like the girl who was raped by the footy team, etc.

But if we are going to introduce officious rules regarding clothing (and also where and when a woman can walk alone for example) and blame women for attracting predators if they don’t follow them, we really are going backwards. Back to the 50s, or Sharia law as someone here made a reference to.

I watched this “Recipe for murder” doco on ABC the other night. which was about Thallium poisoing cases in the 50s and I had to explain to my daughter why the all male jury didn’t have any sympathy for one of the accused who had been savagely beaten by her husband because there were rumours about her having ‘loose morals’. This really is a similar thing. To say that women bring it onto themselves because they should be aware of the risks.

And how long can your skirt be before you are just asking for it? How dark does it have to be before you are just considered plain stupid for walking alone on the street? And how explicitly sexual does your behaviour have to have been before you are considered a slut and therefor send the message that you’re “up for it”. I need to know the rules so I can tell my daughter so she can grow up to be a good, sensible girl who doesn’t attract unwanted attention.

creative_canberran said :

Slut would fall into the former category, a word inherently and inescapably negative. It has traditionally always referred to a woman OR man that is promiscuous or slovenly. The etymology is disputed but widely regarded to stem from middle english meaning unclean water.

I very much doubt that the word slut was ever used for men? I believe the word for men who have multiple sexual partners was and still is “stud”.

creative_canberran4:15 pm 27 May 11

Jim Jones said :

Gantz said :

Yeah just one problem with that – the march is to reclaim the word ‘slut’ in which context will you then begin to use it in?

It is a derogatory word/term, with no other meaning, created to use as weapon.

So can we expect to hear the girls/women in the coming months at bars/clubs/movies, hell even cafes?

‘Hey girl!’

‘Oh, hey my fave slut, how’ve you been?’

Plenty of previously derogatory words have been reclaimed: queer, bastard (now widely-used as a term of affection by many Australians), bugger, n#gger (by hip-hop culture), freak, and so on.

There’s nothing essential or inherit about words – meaning is dependent upon social usage. So why not reclaim slut?

Even if it doesn’t become incorporated into common parlance, its use as a strategy has been insanely successful: damn near everyone is talking about it, and the issue has become front and centre.

Good on ’em I reckon. I’ll support this whole-heartedly.

Contrary to popular belief, not all publicity is good or constructive.

And as for the meaning of words, some do have inescapable origins.

You mentioned bastard, from old french meaning “son of a mule driver”. It’s origins are clearly to refer to someone of lower caste or inferior breeding and to date, I’ve not seen any usage that has escaped this and turned it into a positive word, nor has any segment of the community wished to appropriate it. It is inherently negative.

On the other hand, you mentioned queer which is from german meaning oblique, which simply means to diverge from being straight. This word too hasn’t escaped its origins. It’s origin is not inherently negative, though hence it has acquired a multitude of meanings from architecture and military planning to more recent derogatory usage dependant on social context.

Slut would fall into the former category, a word inherently and inescapably negative. It has traditionally always referred to a woman OR man that is promiscuous or slovenly. The etymology is disputed but widely regarded to stem from middle english meaning unclean water.

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