My answer? I have no freaking clue. This is going to be a really honest, not based on anything but emotion/instinct, blog post.
Look, I've seen all of the dialogue about where the SlutWalk began, what it's become, what they're accomplishing, and what they could be doing better. But to be frank, I still don't know if I am personally all that comfortable with it. I love that feminism is catching on again, but I sometimes feel like you've got to be hip to enter some feminists spaces today...and I'm just not all that hip.
Exhibit A:
"We can't fight the patriarchy if we're busy fighting each other." So true. And I am not one to constantly "police" the spaces that I'm in...but I'm also not one who has the energy to "insert myself" into feminist spaces because of the invisibility/silencing of my various social identities. There's something off about the SlutWalks to me, something feels disingenuous...I really can't put my finger on it.
How do you feel about SlutWalks?
The SlutWalk in NYC is happening on October 1st, and I encourage you all to check it out and decide for yourselves.
It might be that they seem a little smug about being feminists. Mainly, it's in those gestures they make, like the *shrugs* that say 'yeah, I'm pretty awesome.'
ReplyDeleteIt does feel vaguely fake, but not for everyone in the video.
I'm so glad you make this post! I feel like so many people are jumping on the SlutWalk bandwagon because, well... Making signs and dressing "slutty" is a lot more fun than say, lobbying for better education of police officers or changes in how rape cases are legally handled. In all honesty, these walks are doing nothing to really educate people. If anything, I see more people laughing at the idea of them than taking them seriously. The majority of the people who are into them aren't really aware of what feminism is; Feminism is hardly ever mentioned in SlutWalk, like the idea of attaching big, bad feminism would make it uncool. Not to mention the name itself only REINFORCES the idea of what a slut is. Why not celebrate an individuals sexuality for being totally normal than assigning a negative connotation to it? I don't think it's ever been okay for people of color to call each other "niggers", just as I don't think a word meant to demean and dehumanize us is ours to take back! Sure, in a perfect society, it'd all work out and in 10 years slut would simply be a name for a woman who enjoys sex. But this is not a perfect society and I believe the problem will not be solved simply from protests and marches. Not to mention the fact people of color have hardly had any place in this: blackwomensblueprint.com/index.php/an-open-letter-from-black-women-to-the-slutwalk/
ReplyDeleteSorry for the rant, however I think SlutWalk's heart is in the right place, but it seems to be more of a blind, belligerent rage than an effective, systematic approach to ending victim blaming, ya know?