Who Wears Slut Shorts?

By Riah Roe
Contributing Writer

It is a trend exploding across the nation; young and old gals alike are strutting their sluttiest outfits down the main streets of their towns. Chanting, laughing, and pretty much causing a good old fashioned ruckus wherever they go, these women are participating in the wildly controversial protests called Slutwalks. Originally starting in Toronto, Slutwalks have gone international and are garnering much attention by everyone. It is this high visibility mixed with strong visual and linguistic messages that make them so controversial.

The basic premise of the Slutwalk is wildly simple, yet darkly nuanced. American culture in particular has what is known in feminist theory as a rape culture. A rape culture is a society that has attitudes, norms, beliefs, and jokes which are conducive to encouraging rape or sexual assault. Some common examples are rape apologism (blame the victim not the rapist), rape denialism (redefining rape so it is hard to consider anything rape), and normalization of extreme sexual objectification (violent porn as normal sex standard). The hopes of the Slutwalk are to bring light to these issues in a very dramatic and visual way. Women dressed in both casual and revealing outfits carry signs that say things like “Society teaches ‘don’t get raped’ instead of ‘don’t rape’” and “My clothes are not my consent.”

This very visual and outlandish approach to combating rape culture has polarized the feminist community in many ways. Some believe that it is a total abhorrence, that the word “slut” has been used to objectify and degrade women for far too long to be used so casually. Others believe that great change can only come with great visibility. A recent SlutWalk organized in Alberta distributed descriptions of the event that read as follows:

“SlutWalk is a protest, a rally and a demonstration of frustration and anger. We are protesting blaming victims of sexual violence for the violence perpetrated against them. No one is responsible for violence perpetrated against them, no matter what they wear, who they associate with, or who they are.”

I would have to say that I think the concept is brilliant, and I side very much with the women who are taking the word “slut” and turning it into a term of empowerment. This exact thing happened with the BTLQGA community with the word “queer.” For a long time the word was derogatory and a big no-no in the community. However, as time progressed and the gay rights movement moved forward, the term queer became more and more mainstream as a source of empowerment. Many people were glad to be called queer because it had taken on a new political and communal definition that reshaped its usage. Now the word is so mainstream that it is used as an indicator in the gay community as noted by the letter Q.

Back to SlutWalks: what type of society do we live in where we are afraid or upset to see women dressed in revealing clothing? Men can walk around in shorts alone and we think nothing of it, but if a woman is wearing a bikini she is being immodest. The rape culture our society has taken on places too much emphasis on the victim. The first question often asked when rape allegations occur is “What was she wearing?” rather than “Why did he do it?” This is clearly an unfair mentality to have towards crime and is completely degrading to women. When a house is robbed we don’t say “Well did the owners pick a door that looked like it could easily be broken down?” No, instead we place all the responsibility on the criminal; why should rape be treated any different?

The SlutWalks are a visual way of protesting and a fair one at that. This isn’t a problem that can be solved by simple education because it is not just the criminals that are the problem; it is a total constructive issue within our society. Police, eye-witnesses, media, and educators all play a role in preventing and ending rape culture, and therefore it will take dramatic methods to increase sensitivity and knowledge on this very subtle and under the table issue.

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