July 2011
31 posts
Slutwalk NYC Does Not Accept Esquire's Apology
Dear Esquire,
On July 25th, your magazine decided to use the Newsweek account of the accuser in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case as an introduction to an article about how to get a blowjob. While your tweets have been deleted, you stated: “According to the famous maid who’s suddenly talking, Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s sexual request was anything but polite…” Your publication has also since apologized by tweeting “Sometimes our sense of humor doesn’t come out the way we intend. Sorry if an earlier tweet offended anyone.”
We, the organizers of SlutWalk NYC, a march set for October 1st, as part of a movement dedicated to eradicating gender-based oppression and violence, do not accept your apology, which merely states that you are sorry that anyone was offended and not sorry that you find sexual assault to be an appropriate and witty introduction to an fluff article about oral sex. Your actions directly contribute to a rape culture in this country and the world, which teaches sexual assault survivors that if they dare to speak out they risk, among rampant victim-blaming, being derided, being made fun of, and being used as fodder by a tasteless, unapologetic magazine such as yourself. We understood your sense of humor, loud and clear, Esquire. We heard that you think rape is not to be taken seriously and that sexual assault should be mocked. We are not sorry you offended us, and we think your magazine should write an article about one of the many organizations of men working to stop rape in order to counter the misogynistic, degrading voice you put forth today.
Sincerely,
SlutWalk NYC believes that no one has a right to put their hands on you without your consent. We are part of a grassroots worldwide movement, working to challenge mindsets and stereotypes of victim-blaming and slut-shaming.
“Here’s what I think, Mr. Wind-Up Bird. Everybody’s born with some different thing at the core of their existence. And that thing, whatever it is, becomes like a heat source that runs each person from the inside. I have one too, of course. Like everybody else. But sometimes it gets out of hand. It swells or shrinks inside me, and it shakes me up. What I’d really like to do is find a way to communicate that feeling to another person. But I can’t seem to do it. They just don’t get it. Of course, the problem could be that I’m not explaining it very well, but I think it’s because they’re not listening very well. They pretend to be listening, but they’re not, really. So I get worked up sometimes, and I do some crazy things.”
—Haruki Murakami, The Wind Up Bird Chronicle
