What is SLUTwalk and how did it come about? On January 24, 2011 Constable Michael Sanguinetti spoke on crime prevention at a York University safety forum. He said: "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized." Co-founders Sonya Barnett and Heather Jarvis decided to use the word slut in their response. They observe that historically, "slut" has had negative connotations, and that their goal is to redeem the term.They write that women "are tired of being oppressed by slut-shaming; of
being judged by our sexuality and feeling unsafe as a result." They
continue: "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.
The first SLUTwalk in protest of victim-blaming was on April 3rd, 2011 in Toronto Canada. There have been marches all over the world and still continue.
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SLUTwalk NYC
What is Consent?
This weekend SLUTwalk Ithaca, NY took place Saturday afternoon. A small crowd of about 200 people for what was expected to be over 1,000 marched and gathered in the commons. Another reminder of how there is a serious need in this community for feminists--including the ones who don't identify as such, but believe in all the issues feminism stands for--to come together and create continuous dialogue about issues regarding discrimination, equality, and civil rights we still face today. But for anyone to gather or discuss or stand up for something they believe in is definitely a step in the right direction!
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Do you agree or disagree that victim-blaming needs to end? If you could or wanted to, how would you create dialogue within your community? Did you attend the SLUTwalk on Saturday in Ithaca or have you attended a SLUTwalk in your area? Comment below or email me shapedbymylife@gmail.com
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