Have you ever looked down on a woman for her sexual promiscuity? Ever believed rumors about her without knowing her personally? Do you think it’s amusing to call women sluts, and do you hold men to the same unfair standard?
It seems strange to me that people would believe women are not allowed to enjoy sex without being called a derogatory name. Stranger still, women will be stereotyped for the way they dress.
Although this is an issue in itself because men are often never given this same grief due to appearance, this is trivial compared to blaming women for victimization and rape. Toronto police officer Michael Sanguinetti said, in order to remain safe, “women should avoid dressing like sluts.”
This absolutely disgusts me for several reasons. Even if a woman dresses in a “slutty” way, she still doesn’t deserve to be raped. The fact that people shift the blame from the criminal onto the victim worries me.
With this kind of thinking, rape can be justified because everyone has a different opinion of suitable dress. Rape is never about sexual attraction, but a matter of domination. Sexual offenders hurt their victims because they can, and because they seem to get a thrill out of making someone feel helpless.
Protestors and organizers of a movement called SlutWalk agree with these sentiments and want to prove a point. SlutWalk aims to stop “slut-shaming,” a term that means women are being judged for their sexuality and feeling unsafe due to people justifying rape.
Many people have the idea behind SlutWalk wrong, as they appear to believe people are protesting the right to not be called a slut despite how one dresses. This is not the issue at hand, however; it’s making the public realize rapists need to be punished, instead of scolding their victims.
SlutWalk is a major feminist movement that has spread from its original rally in Toronto, Canada to major cities of the U.S. including Boston, NYC, Chicago, and now, Detroit. Sadly, feminism is still often disregarded as unimportant despite obvious sex discrimination throughout the world.
Thankfully, Sanguinetti realized his grave error in blaming rape victims and apologized for his inexcusable statement. His original comment sparked the SlutWalk movement and is bringing attention to the issue of rape and victimization.
Victimization can happen to anyone no matter what they are wearing, and it is never their fault. When people suggest a woman “had it coming” because she dressed a certain way, or because she was being flirtatious, it enrages me.
Although it is true there are situations where crimes are more likely to happen, this still does not mean the victim deserved it. If someone is robbed because they are walking through a dangerous area, that does not mean they deserved it – and rape victims don’t deserve being taken advantage of, either.
Understandably, there has been some opposition to the term SlutWalk because ‘slut’ is a sexist word used to discriminate against women for their sexuality. Some people believe this condones promiscuity, which takes away from the original message.
Personally, I think the term “SlutWalk” is meant to be somewhat ironic, because the word “slut” is often used to excuse disrespecting or hurting women. Women who have had experiences with victimization are essentially saying “as a ‘slut,’ I still didn’t ask to be raped.”
Instead of arguing whether or not dressing a certain way quantifies being a slut, which is a subjective manner, the protestors have decided to focus on the real issue: the fact that no one deserves to be victimized for any reason.
I respect the consistency of people who find sexual promiscuity immoral whether a man or a woman is involved; sexism does not play a role in this opinion. However, those who believe women who “dress slutty” deserve to be raped or had it coming are ignorant, sexist and immoral.
Those interested in learning more about SlutWalk or participating in the protest in Ann Arbor on Oct. 22 can visit www.slutwalknyc.com, www.slutwalkchicago.org, or visit SlutWalk Ann Arbor’s Facebook page.
The Ann Arbor rally will begin at 11 a.m. at the Diag, located at the center of University of Michigan’s campus. For those who are not sure where this is, a brass “M” is located in the center of the Diag.
