What does the word slut mean to you? Have you ever heard a person use slut in a positive sense? Why does a male equivalent not exist? Why do people feel the need to label a woman for her sexual choices, why is it any of their business and indeed why is it viewed as a bad thing?
If everyone is consenting and healthy, then other peopleâs sex lives are really none of our business. Why as a society are we so intent on putting our morals onto other peoples personal lives when it has no effect on us?
Hey guess what guys, sex is healthy!Â
Everyone does it! Shock horror! Most people find it fun ;D
The word slut is only ever used to damage, outcast and dehumanize women. We need to question its very existence. It puts a rule down on them regarding personal choices...You canât do this, you canât do that, because you will be called a slut, and you will have to deal with the ramifications of this... even if it means being sexually assaulted. Your sexuality is being controlled.
The people involved in the SlutWalk Movement are marching to prove that âa slutâ does not exist â itâs a term of abuse catapulted at women for so many different reasons, with countless different definitions. Itâs a word that shows that female sexuality is still controlled, that is objectified rather than celebrated. By coming together and putting us all under a SlutWalk label so to speak, celebrating sexual diversity and choice, weâre highlighting that not only can women be called a slut for such irrelevant reasons, but that by using words like slut, society is ignoring the real causes of rape.
Weâre confronting the word slut. After all, if we don't confront the word and break it apart, how are we ever going to get rid of a word that adds so much fuel to the fire of victim blaming and slut shaming?
Sexuality and objectification!Â
Sexual objectification is using someone simply for sex, ignoring every other element of that person and seeing them as an object rather than a person.
This sounds horrible, doesnât it? Itâs something that is incredibly prominent in our culture though, because sexuality is shamed rather than celebrated, we end up with this sex negative objectifying culture.
We grow up in a society where words like slut (whore, tart, etc etc etc) are used to brand women for their perceived sexuality, by branding them, we are out-casting them, which leads to a mindset of them being lesser people - less deserving of respect somehow... and that leads to a culture where people feel it's then okay to objectify them, where society feels itâs okay to see their body as public property if they choose to display their sexuality outside. Sexuality can be celebrated, the human body can be celebrated without leading to objectification â but this sex negativity is so ingrained within us that itâs hard to break free from.
As a society we then tend to break apart people in our minds that display sexual qualities. We are sexual creatures, itâs how we reproduce and itâs a fundamental part of human life. We want to feel attractive, want to feel desired, and that isn't inherently wrong. You can be a sexual person, a desirable person, a person who wants to have sex and be intelligent and have a thousand other varying qualities. Shaming sexuality means that anyone who exhibits qualities which show they're a sexual person is then deemed as unworthy, and unrespectable - we then start to break that person down - because they exhibit their sexuality in public we think "oh that person can't want anything else OTHER than sex" - and that is what then leads to the idea that sex is all there is to that person, all that person has to offer, and all that person wants. We stamp public property on them.
Arrives the sex positive movement!Â
Society needs to realise that everyone thinks of sex in different ways; there isn't one way it should be done or one type of sex that is good for everyone - and there is nothing wrong with wanting sex and attention, this acceptance that everyone is different is the way to beat objectify. What others do with their sex lives shouldnât matter. Itâs their body, their life, their rules.
In walks SlutWalk...
 âYou know, I think weâre beating around the bush hereâŠwomen should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimised.â â These are the infamous words uttered by a Toronto Police Officer, to a group of Law students which sparked off a series of SlutWalks that have now gone global.
Lots of people are saying that the police officer was just speaking about safety precautions; but what people are objecting to here is the language he used, how language speaks volumes about our culture and the views held in society, and how he is perpetuating a rape myth rather than a safety precaution. The larger problem is indeed not that particular police man, but our society, and the views of that police man is a part of the problem and by using words like slut â he is maintaining a rape myth and an incredibly harmful view of womenâs sexuality.Â
Weâre not saying one police man or one police department are the problem; weâre saying that their views reflect the views of the larger society.
The people involved in SlutWalk believe ignoring a words existence because itâs a part of misogynistic language is not going to work. Just because we ignore a word, doesnât stop it existing or take away its power. We believe you can attack a word and render it meaningless. Itâs just like standing up to a bully; you metaphorically attack it head on. Like playing the system, you have to get inside, use the term, break it apart, take away its power and thatâs when we can start to create a society that doesnât use such terms at all.Â
Slut is a socially constructed term. If we come together - people of all different kinds, in all different clothes, anyone from a-sexuals to those who sleep with 100âs, it's dispelling this "slut" myth and showing that it holds NO relevance over rape cases.
So, rape, you say? What has this got to do with "sluts" or the shame and blame game?
In no other crime is the victim subject to so much scrutiny during an investigation or at trial; nor is the potential for victims to be re-traumatised during these processes as high in any other crime.â (HMCPS & HMIC, 2007)
We are protesting against victim-blaming, against slut-shaming, against a sex negative culture which is perpetuating rape myths and therefore ignoring the real issues, and a justice system that is incredibly unjust!
The UK currently has 47,000 rapes reported a year; this number is steadily rising, despite the fact that the conviction rate is steadily lowering. At 6.5%, the UK now has the worst conviction rape in Europe besides Ireland, despite the fact that there is supporting evidence in 86.7% of charged cases of rape.
Those are the facts â weâre also hearing more and more stories of how dreadfully victims are treated by police and within the justice system and they are often put off from reporting their attacks at all! It is estimated that even only 5% of rapes are ever reported â and of course men are victims too! Anyone can be, but in a society that perpetuates a sexual double standard â everyone is put off reporting what happens to them for fear of how they will be perceived by the courts and by society as a whole. When you read the statistics about peopleâs attitudes to rape victims, itâs shocking.Â
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Victims of sexual assault need societyâs support, not its scrutiny.
The biggest rape myth is that the victim does something to provoke a rapist. This is not statistically backed up and makes no sense. Dress sense does not affect rape, itâs a common misconception. So much emphasis is put on the victims of sexual assault and not enough is asked of the rapist â SlutWalk is highlighting this injustice and trying to show society that nothing a victim does made them a victim â someone was raped because a rapist decided to rape them. There is no such thing as an invitation or a provocation for something that, by definition, is forcing someone to do something that they donât want to partake in.
All kinds of people get raped, women, men, genderqueer people, children, the elderly, disabled people â and people of all shapes and sizes, ethnic origins, backgrounds, sexual orientations, dress senses etc etc etc. Anyone can be a victim as rape isnât about sexuality; itâs a hateful act about power and control over someone, using their sexual anatomy as the vehicle to express that. Most victims know their perpetrator, something that a lot of people often overlook. (Check the end for links to statistics and information to enhance your mindlings!)
What will SlutWalk change?
 SlutWalk is a social movement. As with any movement, protest etc its aims are to change the social landscape. It aims to raise awareness of the facts of rapes, bust rape myths and create social change in the minds and laws of our society. It aims to make people question.
Weâre not saying it will cure sex negativity, slut shaming or victim blaming forever of course; itâs a smaller part of a larger picture.
The justice system and social attitude changes donât work independently of each other; one affects the other. Laws change when people fight them and when they no longer reflect the views of that society. These two changes work together which is why raised awareness and campaigning and protesting does create real change.
We need change in education, in the justice system, in politics and in the minds of the people that make up our world. We need sex positivity.
Check the SlutWalk Satellitte to find out if there is one happening near you!Â
