Originally posted at http://minneapolitanmademoiselle.blogspot.com/
For more information about the SlutWalk movement, check out this website. Also, check out SlutWalk Minneapolis on Facebook and tumblr.
The basic idea behind this now international movement is to protest the victim-blaming that commonly occurs when someone is sexually assaulted. In the case of SlutWalk, it's blaming the victim because what they are wearing = they're a slut and they somehow deserve what happened to them. Statements like "They deserved it because..." or "If they didn't (insert behavior here) they would not have been assaulted..." place responsibility for the assault on the victim or their behavior instead of on the perpetrator, where it rightly belongs. SlutWalk is coming to Minneapolis on October 1, 2011 and I am super excited! Given the amount of controversy that inevitably arises with events such as SlutWalk, I wanted to share the reasoning behind my decision to walk with my fellow Minneapolitans (and others) in support of this cause.
I'm walking in SlutWalk because I am fed up with the victim blaming that occurs in so many cases of sexual assault. Victim blaming knows no particular boundaries - friends, family members, partners, police officers, lawyers, judges, jury members, strangers - individuals from all of these categories have engaged in victim blaming in one way or another. I hear it in the work that I do with victims/survivors of sexual assault, I hear it in news stories, I hear it in conversations that I have with people in my life. The practice of victim blaming is supported by our culture, and by the 'just-world' line of thinking - if I blame someone's behavior for what happened to them then I feel better because I think that if I don't engage in that behavior, then what happened to them won't happen to me. This type of thinking contributes to the isolation and blaming of victims, and may, in the future, contribute to the shame and guilt that people feel if they end up in a situation similar to the one in which they blamed the victim.
I'm walking in SlutWalk because far too many people of every age, race, gender, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion and ability around the world are and will become victims of sexual violence.
I'm walking in SlutWalk because sexual assault is one of the most under-reported crimes in the country and even when a sexual assault IS reported, perpetrators are rarely prosecuted.
I'm walking in SlutWalk because we live in a culture in which sex is still a taboo topic to discuss; in which we abandon our youth to misinformation or no information about sex, consent and other important topics because some parents don't want their children to learn about THAT in school; in which we glorify violence and the objectification of women (and men) because it 'makes money'; in which we are terrible at communicating openly and honestly about so many things, including sex; in which children grow up among destructive ideas about what they should look like, how they should act, etc that often lead to problems with relationships and self-esteem, among other things.
I'm walking in SlutWalk because I want to be able to enjoy my freedom - freedom to express myself and have fun through the way that I dress, act and the expression of my sexuality without being called a slut, without being harassed on the street and without the fear of being sexually assaulted. I don't intend to reclaim the word slut at this point in my life - it's too mixed up with negativity in my mind - but I'm not going to tell people that they can't reclaim the word if that's what they wish to do.
I'm walking in SlutWalk because we still have so much work to do, on so many levels, to make our country the free, just and safe nation that we claim it is. And I believe that the SlutWalk movement is a great tool to help folks recognize and organize around a great cause, and to help us all take a step in the right direction, toward a culture that doesn't blame victims and ultimately treats people with the respect and dignity that they deserve.