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Slutwalks and the Future of Feminism

Jill

Jessica Valenti has a great piece up at the Washington Post about sexual assault, feminism and how Slutwalks are doing their part to counter victim-blaming. But what Valenti finds most exciting about the Slutwalks — and what I do, too — isn’t the content as much as the grassroots activism and the offensive (as in playing offense) posturing:

Feminism is frequently on the defensive. When women’s activists fought the defunding of Planned Parenthood, for example, they didn’t rally around the idea that abortion is legal and should be funded. Instead, advocates assured the public that Planned Parenthood clinics provide breast exams and cancer screenings. Those are crucial services, of course, but the message was far from the “free abortion on demand” rallying cry of the abortion rights movement’s early days.

Established organizations have good reason to do their work in a way that’s palatable to the mainstream. They need support on Capitol Hill and funding from foundations and donors. But a muted message will only get us so far.

“We called ourselves something controversial,” Jarvis says. “Did we do it to get attention? Damn right we did!”
…
Unlike protests put on by mainstream national women’s organizations, which are carefully planned and fundraised for — even the signs are bulk-printed ahead of time — SlutWalks have cropped up organically, in city after city, fueled by the raw emotional and political energy of young women. And that’s the real reason SlutWalks have struck me as the future of feminism. Not because an entire generation of women will organize under the word “slut” or because these marches will completely eradicate the damaging tendency of law enforcement and the media to blame sexual assault victims (though I think they’ll certainly put a dent in it). But the success of SlutWalks does herald a new day in feminist organizing. One when women’s anger begins online but takes to the street, when a local step makes global waves and when one feminist action can spark debate, controversy and activism that will have lasting effects on the movement.

Jessica also recognizes that Slutwalks haven’t been universally embraced by feminists, and are far from perfect feminist activism. But the key, I think, is recognizing that there is no one perfect form of activism, and no one-size-fits-all feminism. Slutwalks ain’t your thing? That’s cool! Think there are problems with using the word “slut,” and that it alienates some women? Yes, that is worth addressing. But we can recognize the imperfections of Slutwalk as a movement while also recognizing that for a lot of women it’s incredibly powerful, and it is pretty cool that these walks have been springing up all over the country, organized locally by grassroots activists in their particular communities. There have been Slutwalks in more than 75 cities across North America and beyond, and there’s no organization or central group being the phenomenon. That is pretty awesome.

Check out the whole article. My favorite quote:

Emily May, the 30-year-old executive director of Hollaback, an organization that battles street harassment, plans to participate in SlutWalk in New York City in August. “Nonprofit mainstays like conferences, funding and strategic planning are essential to maintaining change — but they don’t ignite change,” she says. “It’s easy to forget that change starts with anger, and that history has always been made by badasses.”

“History has always been made by badasses.” I want that embroidered on a pillow.

47 thoughts on Slutwalks and the Future of Feminism

  1. She should have that put on a shirt. I’m sure lots of participants would wear it to the rallies.

  2. It seems like an updated version of the “well-behaved women seldom make history” quote.

  3. I saw the article also in the Washington Post. The quote i found interesting was “…Slutwalks have become the most successful feminist action of the past 20 years.” Even if you don’t like the name, you have to admit, the feminist movement is taking a step forward because of these marches.

  4. Sure, change does start with anger. But if I want to get all Biblical on you, I’d use a particular phrase. “In your anger, do not sin.”

    Anger has its place, but it must be only part of the greater toolkit. I’ve observed myself what happens when anger spirals out of control. I don’t see that happening here, but I hope we’ll be able to understand that there is need for all sorts of motivational emotional responses that address and counteract very specific needs and circumstances.

  5. While Valenti has some good points, lets not forget that the Slutwalks are not the first feminists to take to the street protests in the street:

    http://womenshistory.about.com/od/feminism/tp/feminist_protests.htm

    And those were just the 70s. What about the protests, strikes, hunger strikes in jail, protests by women working for the vote in the 19th and 20th century in the US and the UK:

    http://womenshistory.about.com/od/suffrage/a/suffrage.htm

    I find the comparison between the current protests and the criticism of “mainstream” feminism to be problematic (hints of “you’re doing feminism wrong” from BOTH sides).

    We need BOTH and more feminist movements–street protests and community work and organizing and working within the system.

    And the lack of knowledge of the history of protests by women in Valenti’s article is typical of a lot of discourse on feminist blogs today–not the fault of the feminists, but part of the ways in which women’s achievements are erased. It’s frustrating to see that happen and, more, frustrating to think that women keep having to reinvent the basics.

    I hope the anger and passion and solidarity generated on the Slutwalks continues.

    But I’d also hope to see similar protests about the attempts in the US to restrict women’s access to abortion.

    1. And the lack of knowledge of the history of protests by women in Valenti’s article is typical of a lot of discourse on feminist blogs today–not the fault of the feminists, but part of the ways in which women’s achievements are erased. It’s frustrating to see that happen and, more, frustrating to think that women keep having to reinvent the basics.

      Where did anyone indicate a lack of knowledge about feminist history or say that Slutwalks are the first feminist actions to take to the streets? Just because the article wasn’t a history lesson doesn’t mean that anyone thinks Slutwalks are the first times feminists have ever protested.

  6. @robin reid, I don’t think Jessica or Jill were trying to imply that Slutwalk is the first (as in, the first ever) feminist street protest. But hey, it’s happening right now, so it seems legitimate to talk about it.

  7. “the success of SlutWalks does herald a new day in feminist organizing. One when women’s anger begins online but takes to the street, when a local step makes global waves and when one feminist action can spark debate, controversy and activism that will have lasting effects on the movement.”

    Yeah, this is definitely the most important part for a lot of reasons.

    Could the organizers in Toronto have come up with a title that was less offensive to pearl-clutchers of left and right? Sure, if they’d formed a committee and made an org chart and focus-grouped it and recruited Significant Board Members from Around the World and waited for the same brigade of professional-left activists and assholes to show up offering logistical support in exchange for including speakers for their laundry list of unrelated outrages that have diluted every other attempted march and demonstration for the last 20 years. And if they’d known or cared their rump outburst of irritation at a specific word uttered by a specific cop in a specific city in Canada was going to spread to 75 cities and counting then they might have done so.

    But they didn’t because they were too busy taking direct action against a direct insult by someone who was so “well-intentioned” but wrong he didn’t even know he had his head up his ass.

    And dear sweet mother of pearl, that something like that should take off spontaneously? That it should have bypassed a bunch of amen choir members who’s “activism” consists mainly of leaving gotchas in other bloggers comments? Horrors!

    I’m not a huge fan of “reclaim the word X” initiatives (almost 40 years after appreciating a friend’s “That’s Mister Faggot to you” button the word “fag” has lost only a little bit of its sting) I appreciate SlutWalk not because their intention is more about deploring then word than celebrating it. Because, yeah, it’s pretty much always been a slur and in this instance the Toronto cop’s intention was pure unadulterated anticipatory victim-blaming.

    figleaf

  8. Yes, it’s an article not a history lesson, but it could have been framed as RECLAIMING the sort of protests that took place in the past, not as OPPOSED to the mainstream feminist movement.

    And I’m not saying that anybody is saying X is new–just that I don’t see anything much on feminist blogs (including Valenti’s work) about the past — including the major 80s critique by womanists and feminists of color that seems to have dropped out of sight (which means a lot of the same rhetoric about “women” meaning default white women, and not questioning racist rhetoric still occurs).

  9. @Jill and @Robin,

    I agree with Jill that what’s different about SlutWalk isn’t that it’s the first mass feminist demonstration ever (c’mon, neither Jessica or Jill are either stupid or ignorant so why the implication they are.) Instead it’s the first in North America to originate and translate from the internet to civic action.

    And yes, yes, the 1970s were a wonderful time for women’s marches! I remember hitch-hiking along with friends to rallies in Boston and D.C. And goodness knows the sacrifices and successes women made 150 years ago, and 100 years ago, and 50 years ago. In the last 20 years though? Well, there was the million-women march (ooh, wonderful giant puppets and always good to see those Free Tibet signs!) Otherwise? Not so much. Which is why, at least to me, this is so promising. Because, yeah, we really, really do need to see more activism.

    But as my dad used to say “you can’t steer a parked car.” I think instead of trying to put the brakes on Slutwalk it might be cool to start crowd-sourcing new points for real-world activism. I mean, wouldn’t it be cool to be able to get a rally going before the mainstreamers, t-shirt vendors, and the YSA “volunteers” and PETA demonstrators sign-waivers could set up for the cameras and otherwise get in the way? I say yes. Too many other people are saying no way… because a handful of non-professional organizers were too focused to pick the “right” name.

    figleaf

  10. I’ve been mulling over this post on and off all morning and in the end, all I can think of are the valid points made in these article: http://www.racialicious.com/2011/05/19/slutwalk-%E2%80%93-to-march-or-not-to-march/ and http://www.racialicious.com/2011/05/25/slutwalks-v-ho-strolls/. I understand that Jill makes a gesture towards women who might not be comfortable with reclaiming the word “slut” in this fashion, but the dismissing of valid concerns as “pearl clutching” in the comments is grating. It shows a certain willful ignorance in educating yourself about concerns of women of color.

  11. As a state leader in NOW, I am all too familiar with intergenerational battles & power struggles being referenced here, but they, like street protests, aren’t new. They’ve been happening since the First & Second Waves crashed into each other in the ’60s, and they’ll continue into the Fourth & Fifth…..wait, which one are we in these days?!

    Anyway, I’m happy to report that at Minnesota NOW’s State Board meeting last weekend, we voted to join the grassroots efforts of SlutWalk Minneapolis. We work better when we work together.

  13. @EndlessError: First of all, sorry about the pearl-clutching remark. That was inexcusable.

    But second, I think you’ve touched on something that’s really been overlooked by too many people who’ve been looking at the Toronto thing as a ready made template for social action. Aura Blogando’s well-reposted dissent was off the mark in one regard: there’s no way the best response for women in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to take against an asshat Toronto police officer’s aspersions about Toronto women’s attire would be to organize a protest in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A. But she is on the mark that what was probably 100% appropriate for a protest of racial, class, gender, and orientation in Toronto would not be appropriate for a similar protest in New Orleans. In fact even the name, which was perfect for circumstances in Toronto (where the word “slut” does not have such deep-rooted historical connotations in race, class, and legal proceedings) would be a disaster in New Orleans (where the word “slut” absolutely does have those connotations!)

    But where I think she, and a lot of other people, got their wheel in a rut is over the expectation that any initiative in one location must be a complete, branded template for every other location. On the planet. Or, worse! That once quickly-spun website in Canada should become the clearing house for all future local initiatives. It would just be a mistake if Blogando were the only one, but she isn’t — since maybe the early 1980s rubber-stamped protests have been the norm.

    But here’s the thing I think is important, which I think everyone else who’s enthusiastic thinks is important too: it sounds like a “well-intentioned” New Orleans cop would have used a different word to pre-emptively blame and shame rape victims. But it would have still been the same implication and so even using different word than “slut” it would have been just as major an insult. And so there’s pretty much 100% likelihood that flashmob-like initiators in New Orleans (who would not have been primarily white, Asian, east-Asian, and first-peoples Canadians but instead would be white, African-American, mixed-race, creole, central- and South-American, Caribbean, and southeast Asian) would have named their initiative after that word instead. Even if that word either had odd or irritating connotations elsewhere in the world.

    And the point that you raised, which I think is more important than almost anything else, is that that’s what everyone could be doing! Responding in local parlance to local events taking local conditions into consideration in order to produce the highest local impact!

    Out of context “SlutWalk” is a dumb name. And I think it’s kind of silly that everyone else is kind of reflexively imitating it. And heck, if as Blogando and others suggest the word “slut” doesn’t have the same resonance in New Orleans or elsewhere then not only does it annoy some people it also isn’t going to resonate with local authorities who’ve been getting away with trafficking the same victim-blaming “advice” for years. So, yeah, in that case rubber-stamping the same name isn’t just uncreative it’s counterproductive.

    Which raises the question: how can Blogando and others pioneer real, local initiatives that do will work where it’s needed most?

    Because, yeah, why should anyone feel obliged to use terms in their protests that might have worked in the original location but have zero, or even negative meanings locally?

    Anyway, cool point. I haven’t been working on Slutwalk in part because I don’t like the name and I don’t think I have anything to offer anyway. But I’d be the first person to get behind a more visibly decentralized movement the minute someone starts one near me. And I’ll be the first to get behind a public initiative you or Blogando initiate near you. Because name notwithstanding that’s what I think it exciting about the Toronto event and it’s successors.

    figleaf

  14. EndlessError: I’ve been mulling over this post on and off all morning and in the end, all I can think of are the valid points made in these article: http://www.racialicious.com/2011/05/19/slutwalk-%E2%80%93-to-march-or-not-to-march/ and http://www.racialicious.com/2011/05/25/slutwalks-v-ho-strolls/. I understand that Jill makes a gesture towards women who might not be comfortable with reclaiming the word “slut” in this fashion, but the dismissing of valid concerns as “pearl clutching” in the comments is grating. It shows a certain willful ignorance in educating yourself about concerns of women of color.

    I read figleaf’s comments are being directed more towards the institutionalization / professionalization (read: death) of activism than WOC critiques. There’s a very important point to be had there. Also, I read crunktastic’s critique as not so much being uncomfortable with reclaiming the word “slut”, but being uncomfortable with the representation of the reclamation of this word as being as relevant to WOC as it is to white women. Harsha Walla made pretty much the same point. She wasn’t feeling the title “Slutwalk”, but ended up participating in the march anyway and found that the real thing was a much better experience than she was led to expect from all the debates and media portrayals (more diverse, no “no attempt to recruit everyone into one uniform vision of feminity”, no “‘overarching romanticization of sluttiness'” ). It’s good to get out there for a breath of fresh air with people who feel as strongly about you do, isn’t it? And the good thing about blog writing is that there’s a lot of nuance you don’t necessarily get in media portrayals.

    I’d like to return to figleaf’s point, as well. What really makes these marches stand out is their grassroots and spontaneous nature. Professional and institutional organizing is good for holding the line, but larger breakthroughs usually come through the type of action that we’re seeing here. We certainly saw that earlier this year in Egypt, how all of the main opposition parties were blindsided and sidelined by a spontaneous action of people who had never before been involved in professional politics.

  15. While it’s great that Valenti mentioned that there is some disagreement among feminists about the usefulness of Slutwalk, I was disappointed that this disagreement was presented as a sort of lip service/afterthought. If we are to think of Slutwalks as a central part of feminist activism of the future, then criticisms need to be addressed, not simply mentioned. Why mention Walia’s (apt) criticism, if you’re not going to incorporate her criticisms into the future of feminist activism?

  16. My son is doing SlutWalk Philadelphia in a week or so, following his dad’s footsteps of the ERA Bethlehem-Allentown Walkathon in 1976 and the D.C. Roe v. Wade rally in 1989. Dad is going to Rehoboth for the day.

  17. A staunch feminist, and older and more conservative than the leading women of SlutWalk, if I cannot take my daughter to a “Slut” walk, then I am not going. These marches should be all-inclusive, but I find that this one — although derived from anger — and rightfully so — excludes feminists like me. I’ve read all the articles on this, and I still believe that there is a more empowering way to march and show solidarity in our disgust for the way women are treated.

  18. @EndlessError: First of all, sorry about the pearl-clutching remark. That was inexcusable.

    Right, because breaking out the circular firing squad always helps a movement gain traction.

  19. Reading this discussion, I am beginning to see why feminism has been hibernating — young women, enraged by a statement made in a unique circumstance, spontaneously hold a street demonstration and make their point.

    The reaction from the police department is stunned but apologetic.
    The reaction from the media is stunned but sympathetic.
    The reaction from the feminist movement just here alone is ‘why wasn’t this framed to include the history of feminism’, ‘let’s not anybody get angry‘, ‘this design insults women of color’, ‘this should be more universal’, ‘no one is responding to our complaints about what they’re doing wrong’ and ‘I don’t like the concept so I feel excluded and they ought to change it’.

    All of which adds up, in my opinion, to a message of ‘who said just because you’re women YOU have the right to express yourselves on a feminist issue without getting OUR permission and approval?’ Frankly, as someone brought up in the prissy ’50s, I thought the whole idea was outrageous and over the top, but I also recognized that IT WASN’T MY DEMONSTRATION and there is no rigid set of rules. In fact, I thought the whole POINT of feminism was to reject the meme of ‘all women are required to be exactly the same and march in lockstep at all times’.

  21. If SlutWalks are your thing and you’re in the UK, there will be one in London on the 11th of June with the added title of “Hijabs, Hoodies and Hotpants” in an attempt to be more inclusive and particularly address new waves of Islamophobia and dress code legislation in Europe (France I’m looking at you).

    I’m not involved in organising the demo, and sorry to get off topic of the comments thread, I just wanted to get it out there for UK based readers who would like to get involved in this type of street activism.

  22. I’d like to see this kind of movement gathering momentum around something other than “slutdom.” Why did the word “slut” serve as such a catalyst for protest?

  23. I acknowledge that slutwalks are cool in that they spur people into action and get people out into the streets.

    But, it seems like the kind of initiative that ultimatly will just pour out into the sand.

    A bunch of women in provocative clothing have a blast protecting their right to wear said clothing without being assulted, who are then gonna pat themselves on the back for it while a bunch of guys tell them that “you are my kind of feminist” and then it all dwindles away while nothing really changes.

    Action is good.

    But unless the base philosophy of the action doesn’t challenge the base philosophy of our sexualised marked capitalism, how can it really change anything at all.

  24. Marina, I saw families with children at the Toronto Slutwalk. The march certainly wasn’t created with children in mind- but I don’t think that you have to keep children away. The talk about sexual violence can be horrifying to children, so I understand your reluctance. But trying to keep discussion of sexual violence away from children until they are older won’t even work in this culture. I’ve overheard 12 year olds talking about porn websites. A lot of popular music these days has sexual violence in it. (Eminem, anyone?) You can buy Playboy-adorned T-shirts for young teens. The list goes on. Kids are already bombarded with damaging images of sexuality combined with dominance and violence just by turning on the radio, tv, and computer. I think the messages they hear at a Slutwalk- that no one deserves sexual violence, that abusers are at fault for their actions- can only help young people navigate the steaming pile of shit that is the culture they live in.

    I want to second what jeffliveshere said. Jessica Valenti wrote a pretty good article, but I was also disappointed that the criticisms of women of colour were presented very briefly in passing, making them seem less important. In reality, women of colour are a significant part of our population with legitimate concerns and they should not be written in as a brief mention of an alternate viewpoint. The criticism that Slutwalk is a movement centered on white women’s realities is a real criticism, not an alternate view.

  25. I’d like to see this kind of movement gathering momentum around something other than “slutdom.” Why did the word “slut” serve as such a catalyst for protest?

    In this instance, because of a police officer in Toronto told a group of university students that if they don’t want to get raped, they shouldn’t dress like sluts.

    That said, I am not a fan of the name either, though I appreciate the sentiment that the protests are going for.

  26. Martine Votvik: A bunch of women in provocative clothing have a blast protecting their right to wear said clothing without being assulted,

    How are you defining provocative? I’m pretty sure most of them were just wearing “clothing” – no qualifier.

  27. Two things that bother me:

    1) I went to the first Slutwalk in Toronto. I had a good time, and I thought it sent an important message to the Toronto police and got a lot of media attention. There are a lot of problematic aspects to the Slutwalk, including the centering of white women’s experiences of sexuality, and a fairly uncritical analysis of the role of police and the state in addressing sexual violence. I also understand the critique of using the word “slut,” but I think it made sense in the context of the police officer’s comments.

    2) I don’t get the proliferation of Slutwalks. The march made sense in terms of specific comments made by a police officer in Toronto. I don’t think this as an effective movement to fight rape culture, and I’m fascinated by the way it has caught on in the United States and other countries. I find that far more problematic that the original march.

  28. I am not sure about how I feel about the word “slut” as it relates to me, but I certainly DO think it is an appropriate word to use in objection to sexual violence if you want to be cheeky about it.

    I wouldn’t consider myself a slut, but a lot of less progressive people than myself possibly would. No mater who you are or what you do, EVERYBODY is a slut in somebody’s estimation, and that means that as long as our culture makes “sluts” rapeable, it is a threat to us all.

  29. SlutWalk L.A., which went down on Saturday, was its own unique event. Yes, we marched behind the SlutWalk name and banner. (I was one of the organizers). But it took on a SoCal flavor all its own, as each SlutWalk has. There was a strong Latina presence in the march, as over half the student volunteers who ran the event were young women of color. There was a strong presence from sex workers and adult entertainers, as our two main “collaborators” were Sex Worker Outreach Project-LA and the local chapters of the National Organization for Women. (And how awesome to see so many NOW activists in conversation with sex work activists. There is overlap too, at least here in L.A.)

    Since we marched in West Hollywood, there was a very high gay and lesbian presence in the march. Butch Voices L.A. was another co-sponsor.

    “Slut-shaming” is nearly universal. The response to slut-shaming can be localized. The organic, diverse nature of the SlutWalk movement makes it the near-perfect vehicle for a response.

  30. Oh, and wanted to mention we were also collaborating with Hollaback, the international movement against street harassment. They tabled and leafleted with us — and no one says Hollaback should have limited itself to NYC, where it began, even if “holla” has a specific regional/cultural meaning.

  31. GumbyAnne:
    No mater who you are or what you do, EVERYBODY is a slut in somebody’s estimation, and that means that as long as our culture makes “sluts” rapeable, it is a threat to us all.

    Thank you. I think this well illustrates the point behind SlutWalk, and if you don’t mind I’m going to quote you when someone asks me about the walks and why they’re relevant.

  32. As Hugo added his experiences of Slutwalk LA, I’d like to volunteer my own experiences of Slutwalk Chicago.

    I was extremely hesitant to take part in Slutwalk for two reasons – a) the various critiques made by women of color and sex workers all over the blogosphere that no feminist organizing in 2011 should be ignoring or playing down (I felt that the Toronto Slutwalk organizers in particular were defensive and didn’t seem to be listening to the critique by women of color) and b) that it would inspire a lot of women to dress in ways they normally wouldn’t and that the whole thing would feel like a halloween parade (to be clear, people should be allowed to wear whatever and enjoy it, but I find the idea of people dressing in a way they think is “slutty” who don’t normally dress like that to be kinda weird and it often smacks of caricature.)

    However, Slutwalk Chicago was actually really great and inspiring. I walked from the back to the front of the group of marchers and found that there were a lot of women (and men) of color taking part. The organizers had also allied themselves with a lot of great local groups like Sex Workers Outreach Project and Rape Victim Advocates, who were present. Speakers included someone from SWAP and local activist Yasmin Nair, who did an absolutely awesome job of problematizing slutwalks regarding the critiques by women of color, while also supporting the basic aims of slutwalk (ie. abolishing victim blaming). The main organizers, too, I thought, were good in the run up to slutwalk in terms of taking critiques on board and not being defensive about it – ie. owning the problems with slutwalks and looking for solutions.

  33. junk: Speakers included someone from SWAP and local activist Yasmin Nair, who did an absolutely awesome job of problematizing slutwalks regarding the critiques by women of color, while also supporting the basic aims of slutwalk (ie. abolishing victim blaming). The main organizers, too, I thought, were good in the run up to slutwalk in terms of taking critiques on board and not being defensive about it – ie. owning the problems with slutwalks and looking for solutions.

    @junk: thank you so much for this perspective. I’ve googled it, but any chance that somebody recorded Nair’s talk? I’d love to hear it!

  35. hmmm, I can’t seem to find a video of Nair online but I’m sure someone recorded it. There have been lots of photos and videos popping up on the slutwalk chicago fb page – I’m sure something more comprehensive (like a video of all the speakers) will be up soon…

  38. Just a note…. I too know slutwalk isn’t perfect, but it was so, so healing for me here in Vancouver a few weeks ago. It was the first time I’ve felt validated in what I’ve gone through with the police. Yay slutwalk!

  40. I too know slutwalk isn’t perfect

    I think slutwalk works just fine as a ‘temporary fill-in’ while feminism waits for the perfect structure to be created, one that highlights every concern of every group of feminists everywhere, validates the importance of every one of the important issues, pays homage to all the history, and in addition doesn’t offend anybody. It’s nice to see that organizers are continuing to improve the concept, though, because it wouldn’t surprise me if it takes a while to achieve that perfection.

  41. Since people seem to be sharing various some of the stuff going on with various SlutWalks, I thought I’d cover some of the Oz stuff:

    SlutWalk Melbourne was on the weekend before last, SlutWalk Sydney is on this weekend. This is Elena Jeffrey’s speech at SlutWalk Melbourne, specifically covering how slut-shaming impacts sex workers. Other speeches are available too.

  42. “I wouldn’t consider myself a slut, but a lot of less progressive people than myself possibly would. No mater who you are or what you do, EVERYBODY is a slut in somebody’s estimation, and that means that as long as our culture makes “sluts” rapeable, it is a threat to us all.”

    This is fucking fabulous. Since you said you’d be honoured to be quoted, I’ll post this on the Slutwalk Toronto Facebook wall, and credit it to you.

  43. As a Man – I’m concerned about how Men connect with and support Slutwalks (and other Feminist Actions).

    In the 1960’s – Black People increasingly told White Civil Rights Activists to let Blacks lead the efforts in the Black Community AND to move their work into the White Community to work on “the problem” of White People. Few of us, unfortunately, did the necessary important work and racism persists as a major issue today.

    Today, as it has been for decades, it must be relatively easy for men to get plenty of attention as “that good feminist man” amongst the women at SlutWalks.

    I can certainly understand men who are seriously working with other men in Pro-Feminist activism to end sexist violence visibly supporting the Women of SlutWalks. I would imagine their presence being in the background and helping do the necessary work, without seeking the publicity.

    I would guess, however, that for most men SlutWalks and similar would better serve as a time to Find Other Men (there) to network with and Begin their work with “The Men” – if They/We are really committed to ending the violence.

    SlutWalks and other Feminist Activism – give men opportunities to do Far More – than we’ve done. I think that we can honestly claim over the past 40+ years of the modern feminist movement to having done a good 1/10th of 1% to perhaps 3/10th of 1% of the necessary work. It would seem to really not take that much effort to gradually up that percentage of activism to the point where it would no longer be token.

    Certainly – we need to support The Women. Most of the time such efforts beyond donating money and similar should, in my estimation, be spent on Building Male Activism and reaching other Men.

    Some of that energy may logically go to helping support and working to end the violence directed at boys and men (mostly by other boys and men). Far, far more though could really go to reaching men in ending their violence directed at women and girls.

    Let’s network with and support women – men! We can’t network with and really at a deep level support the women until we begin doing good work with other men – reaching out to more and more men. Thanks!

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  45. Geo:
    As a Man – I’m concerned about how Men connect with and support Slutwalks (and other Feminist Actions).

    I would guess, however, that for most men SlutWalks and similar would better serve as a time to Find Other Men (there) to network with and Begin their work with “The Men” – if They/We are really committed to ending the violence.

    In response to this, I’d like to share a site I’ve recently stumbled upon: Men Standing Up: Moving to End Sexual Assault https://www.facebook.com/pages/Men-Standing-Up-Moving-to-End-Sexual-Assault/148081575759

    I can only hope that this trend will continue.

  46. Shelley – Men Standing Up (a Boulder, Colorado part of a larger group)’s Facebook page that you noted – has now been added to: A Men’s Project (AMP) at: http://www.AMensProject.com (USA, Colorado listings). It’s “regular” website was already there.

    AMP contains listings for well over 1200 resources that may be useful for men (and women) interested in ending men’s violence and other men’s issues.

    There are a “moderate” (not enough) number of good groups around. Hopefully many more will start and grow and flourish to help add to the work women have been doing for decades, largely without our (men’s) active support.

    IF you know of omitted resources, please email me at: info@AMensProject.com with the URL’s and I’ll add the resources (including Facebook pages).

    Thanks!

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