Tuesday, October 4

Just don't call me late for dinner. Or a slut.

So I wasn't exactly planning for my return to Crammys after a two-month hiatus to be a radically feminist rant written from my brain (I normally like to stick with the whole not-serious commentary on Williams' fuckwittery written from the bottle of red wine next to my facebook-and-porn-and-sometimes-homework machine), but tomorrow is the Williams edition of SlutWalk and I have just a few words (honestly, just a few) to say about the matter.

For those of you who might not know, the SlutWalk is a protest march that started when a Canadian (friggin' obviously) police officer suggested that, and I quote: "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized." Face, meet palm.

I'm in no way arguing that Constable Michael "Still A Virgin" Sanguinetti is not a total dipshit who needs some serious re-education, and I think that despite its downfalls, SlutWalk is definitely one of the most powerful feminist movements of my lifetime and is raising much-needed awareness about rape and victim-blaming. But come on... Who the fuck named this protest?

Maybe instead the Canadian police force should be warning potential offenders that they should "avoid assaulting women in order not to go to prison"... just a thought.
Some of you might be a little confused because, honestly, I have one of the foulest mouths on campus. It doesn't take a genius to just glance at my past posts and count the number of choice four letter words that pepper my writing more frequently than I say 'like' in real life (which, trust me, is a lot). I also own a book called "Cunt." Dont believe me? Here:

I'm not really sure how to flip images I took on Photobooth. Rest assured, this is not the Russian spelling of 'cunt', I am just lazy.

There are, however, two words I refuse to say even in a satirical blog. One is fag, the other is slut. What is my biggest issue with 'slut'? It is pure etymology. Slut, according to my favorite website Wikipedia (also the OED for you wiki-phobes), has been insulting women since around 1440 and was defined as something along the lines of a "dirty or slovenly woman." There is, of course, no equivalent term for men (don't try to tell me that 'man-slut' counts). After all, having a sexuality has never been a negative quality for a man to possess. With just one syllable, "slut" dictates that the ideal state of womanhood to be chaste and innocent, and demonizes any woman with any sense of sexuality.

“Slut” is a term entirely and inseparably tied up with women’s oppression. The organizers of the march claim that celebrating the word "slut", and promoting sluttish-ness in general, will help women achieve full autonomy over their sexuality. But the focus on "reclaiming" the word "slut" fails to address the real issue, and I think that the name (and encouraged dress) actually do a disservice to the movement. The term slut is so deeply rooted in the patriarchal binary view of women's sexuality that it is beyond redemption. We cannot "reclaim" something that was, from its inception, solely created to put us down. The continued use of this term cannot get us very far in challenging oppression.

LOL now I can put 'activist' on my resume AND show off my boobies! Will I see you girls at Sigma Nu tonight?

How about instead we try to expose the fucking zillions of ways that the law and our culture enable these enduring stereotypes about all types of women, regardless of their 'number' (side note: can not wait for that movie to come out). These stereotypes and words, even words as small as "slut," make it easier to commit and accept sexual violence because they undermine a woman's credibility when she reports it. The remarkable Gail Dines and Wendy Murphy said it best:
Whether we blame victims by calling them "sluts" (who thus asked to be raped), or by calling them "frigid" (who thus secretly want to be overpowered), the problem is that we're blaming them for their own victimisation no matter what they do. Encouraging women to be even more "sluttish" will not change this ugly reality. 
It is fucking pathetic and really exposes masculinity today. Why aren’t we telling men to stop raping women instead of having women celebrate this misogynistic term? Society does not say "don't rape." It says "don't get raped." How about we involve men a little more in these protests instead of scaring them away with the outrageous name and inappropriate dress? Seems to me that they're generally the ones who have the greatest ability to stop rape, so let's educate them and work with them.

Ugh, I just re-read all of this and I'm totally throwing my reputation as a bitchy party girl down the toilet. Now I'm a raging (still bitchy) feminist. Eh, whatever. I'll still go to SlutWalk, but you better bet your ass I'm not writing SLUT across my bare midriff.

TL;DR: I think rape is bad. So is the word "slut."

OK I promise you all a more fun entry, and I promise it will be soon. Sorry if I made your little brains hurt even more during midterms. No, wait, I'm not. Hope you learned something you ignorant dipshits.

Love you,
Pandora

p.s. Please don't correct my punctuation in this entry... There were so many fucking apostrophes and I got intimidated so I just kind of did whatever. You get the point.

p.p.s. Anyone besides me think it's a little weird that no one has been arrested at these protests for indecent exposure or anything while the people occupying Wall Street are getting arrested up the ass?

4 comments:

  1. Someone just brought this link to my attention, and I think the tips at the bottom are PURE GOLD. Enjoy: http://blog.iblamethepatriarchy.com/2011/03/31/toronto-activists-take-back-the-slut/

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  2. well said...and I think I may actually prefer it when you channel your bitchy-party-girl-ness into writing something with moral underpinnings. you should do more of these. not that I don't enjoy the fun entries as well :)

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  3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piDvki6X6KQ

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  4. I wish you turned this post into a Record opinions’ piece so more people could have heard this viewpoint. I think your analysis is spot on and touches upon the limitations activists face when trying to combat systems ingrained with certain ways of thinking/expressing ideas (Note: I was one of the few men who participated in SlutWalk). It's certainly beneficial to wonder whether reclaiming pejorative terms actually have any potential for a "re-acculturation" of our society that has gendered expression of sexuality. However, I felt like SlutWalk (and other outward expressions like it) are an important first step in that it not only empowers those who feel most affected by stupid terms such as "slut," but also brings out in the open a topic that probably isn't discussed by most people on a day to day basis (or those who would not normally be confronted with such a view point). This is especially important for an insular community like Williams, which as your most of your posts clearly highlight, has a serious problem with open dialogue surrounding sexual needs/wants/desires and how one is suppose to safely & successfully engage in sexual behavior. Obviously Williams' location/size fucks us over by having a horribly limiting number of opportunities for engaging in sex in the first place - this makes dialgoue and learning about sex even harder. For me, SlutWalk was more about an active and open celebration of sex positivity, which I think is the cultural shift you believe activists should really be working on instead (and something you value by reading your posts). Sorry, I’m procrastinating and didn’t mean for this response to be so long. I guess I have a lot of feelings about this(these) topic(s)...

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