What people need to understand and appreciate about the SlutWalk is what I see as a movement to take control of our own stories as opposed to letting others define us. Whether or not you agree with the language or the terminology is not as important as the fact that you have young women willing to put themselves on the line to be able to define who they are- that I find extraordinarily compelling and so important if in fact we’re going to get to that 21st century vision for gender equality. That is so critical and I think that is where the SlutWalks are headed and I support that.
For the record…my own response to my own quotation in Sady Doyle’s piece about Slutwalk…
From Doyle…
“Speaking to Steele, however, raised uncomfortable questions. At one point, she referred to SlutWalk as the “next global feminist movement,” and said that there hadn’t been anything like it “in the last 20 years.” She also said that “I don’t think the media would be paying attention to us if we were called, you know, ‘March To End Sexual Violence.’”
It’s precisely this—the implication that SlutWalk is not only a feminist protest but the feminist protest; the uncomfortable feeling that despite the long-term work of many feminist anti-rape activists, and a New York feminist community which organized a huge rally against the acquittal of the NYPD “rape cops” and multiple protests against the handling of the Dominique Strauss-Kahn rape case this summer alone, feminism itself is now being effectively rebranded and subsumed into the media-friendly presence of SlutWalk—that many people find problematic. There is concern that SlutWalk promotes itself to the exclusion of other feminist protests and communities; that it has pitched itself so eagerly as the “next” feminist movement, and maybe the first real feminist movement in decades, that it has inadvertently devalued the movements that exist.
To steer away from the idea that SlutWalk represented the only sizable feminist protest since 1991, I asked Steele whether SlutWalk wasn’t comparable to Take Back the Night, an international feminist protest against rape that began in 1975, and has been a presence on American college campuses for the past three and a half decades.”
“I’m only twenty-six,” she said. “I can’t speak about stuff that I can’t remember. But since ‘Take Back the Night,’ I can’t remember something like this.”
WHAT I REALLY MEANT:
So for the record, I realized during the interview that I had no business saying the line I did about 20 years and asked to have it taken out, since I had gotten caught up and said something that I couldn’t vouch for. However, I would just like to state that I called myself a feminist before Slutwalk, and in no way think it is the only face of feminism. I do, however, have no recollection of anything inciting as much global activism as Slutwalk, which, again, in no way negates the work of any feminists, WITHOUT WHOM I COULD NOT CALL MYSELF A FEMINIST, prior to Slutwalk. I do however believe that victim blaming and rape culture are uniting feminists worldwide in a way I have never seen before.
That is all. Excuse me while I go feel like a huge asshole for the rest of the evening and attempt to drown this feeling in whiskey.
Demand access to contraception, abortion, comprehensive sex education and health care. If you’re called an angry feminist in the process, tell them you have a fucking right to be, but only as long as that anger drives you to change something.
Human Song- Mindtroll
I was chatting with Zane from Mindtroll at the Permanent Wave Slutwalk benefit show last night, and while I can’t remember exactly how he described the band (was it dork punk?), I am loving the totally accurate description on their facebook page as “not unlike the angriest children’s choir.” I am newly obsessed with Human Song because, like, it is really hard to be a human. Their music has an excellent sense of humor, clearly doesn’t take itself too seriously, yet manages to cover some pretty serious stuff.rache
Join SlutwalkNYC and other members of the community on August 23rd, as we protest the victim blaming and rape culture surrounding this case and stand in solidarity with and in support of Nafi Diallo.
**Trigger Warning**
The brave person holding this sign is such an incredible inspiration. This is so much what Slutwalk is about- a space, sometimes the only space, where no one is blamed for their own rape. Taken at Slutwalk DC. (via Flickr)
Slutwalk NYC Mission Statement
Slutwalk NYC Coalition allies itself with the diverse communities, activists and survivors who live with and fight the effects of rape culture.
The fight against rape culture includes the fight against
Racism
Homophobia
Transphobia
Classism
Ableism
Fatphobia
Xenophobia
Colonialism
Imperialism
Poverty
Police Brutality
Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence
Street Harassment
The fight for a culture without rape is a fight for:
Sex positivity
Body positivity
Sexual freedom
Free and creative gender expression
On demand access to abortion and reproductive health services
Respect in the workplace
Respect on the street
Safer, consensual, informed sex
Safe homes
Safe campuses
