#slutwalks

When I was growing up

There were Slut Walks all around

The nipple was on the cusp of being freed

And slowly, I thought, it was becoming that the worst thing you could call a woman was a slut

Because in doing so one, usually a man, revealed the extent of his in-enlightenment

For when I was growing up, it was the preeminent feminist issue that women not be shamed for doing with their bodies what men did without regard

There are no slut walks anymore

Not because the issue has gone away

But because the word need not be uttered now

There are simply harsher weapons than words to shame the womenfolk

And thus the unsheathing of such a cutting knife need not be done in the polite front rooms of London and Washington

Traditional Wives assert the essential feminine power of washing their husband’s socks while wearing frocks so grossly inappropriate for laundry it’s a wonder their cleaning ladies don’t over dry-clean them

And the curtains get drawn on the matter of the breast and it’s capacity to go unsexualised, because even an ice skatress pulling a silly face in jubilant celebration of her gold medal victory cannot go without comparison to porn

So the matter of the slut is closed

And our grandmothers, those still with the ill fortune of living, must watch their granddaughters stiflingly survive what they bravely marched against

Not because the feminist is dead

But because the intersectionalist has a more fundamental battle to wage

Like a small reptile fleeing from a desert predator, this particular appendage is sacrificed for the good of the host body’s survival

But when the dust resettles from the scurry, will the unbalance prove an unrecoverable kilter?

Why is the matter of shame, its presence and absence, always reserved for peacetime?

I almost crave the shame of those days, that was so fiercely fought against.

A cultural background radiation of shame, and a campaign reared up against it,

would at least imply the existence

of a womanhood seeded

with a little rebellion

a little proactivity to the fight for our freedom.

Now, it seems all we can offer is tired resilience

Resistance, we forget, is ultimately passive

It fights, not to change but to endure

And that which must make do with endurance holds no true power to make change

In far too many ways the fight to survive

Has dulled the female teeth in her own mouth

What I would give to bite again,

To join once more in the chorus of:

“Call me a slut,

I dare you!”

-M

Re-appropriation - a word that describes the cultural process by which a group reclaims a term or expression in order to strip it of its malicious or derogatory meaning. It is a word that in itself sounds powerful and is becoming an important means of attaining social justice for many groups suffering oppression.

Examples of re-appropriation include the reclamation of terminology relating to homosexuality, such as "gay" or "queer", the use of the word "nigga" by African-American communities and more recently the word 'slut," reclaimed at the many SlutWalk rallies happening around the world.

How does it work?

A deliberate intervention must be made into the the common usage of a word if it is to be re-appropriated. Often such words were designed to oppress, hurt or disparage a particular group in some way. In re-appropriating or reclaiming these words, the group is able challenge or re-evaluate their meaning. In doing so, the group may be able to attribute a more neutral or even positive meaning to the originally derogatory term, often resulting in the word being assimilated into broader cultural use. 

Once a word is reclaimed, can it be used by anybody without being offensive?

As with the meaning of any word, context is important. The re-appropriation of words usually arises at grass-roots level, in which a particular group to whom a damaging term is directed begin to use that term as a representation of their collective identity and of any affiliation they may have. Whilst this is observed in a positive light, the use of the term by someone outside the group remains offensive. By this point however the relative power of the term used by an outsider to cause offense is substantially less than the power of the term within the group as a means to strengthen the bond between its members. 

The recent Slutwalks taking place in major cities around the world is a good example of how re-appropriation has been used to take a stand against a term often used to malign victims of rape and to show solidarity with its survivors. As a grassroots movement, it began in Toronto after a policeman told women they should avoid dressing provocatively if they didn't want to get sexually assaulted - the sentiment being that if you don't want to be treated like a slut, don't dress like one. This attitude ties into a larger rhetoric that directly or indirectly blames the victims for their assaults instead of the perpetrators. The re-appropriation of the word "slut" as such weakens the term as a method of undermining and dis-empowering the victim and in turn re-shifts the focus back on to the person who committed the assault itself.

This all sounds positive. Is there ever a time when re-appropriation might be inappropriate?

Re-appropriation is a complex issue and there are strong arguments for simply eradicating a word from acceptable use rather than attempting to reclaim it. This is the case with debate surrounding the word "nigger". As a derogatory word, it was used to oppress and denigrate African-Americans in the US for over 5 centuries. Over the last 50 years however, the word has been reclaimed particularly in hip-hop culture where it is used as a method of empowerment and as a sign of affiliation. 

But there are many who believe that the word, so entrenched in its historical and cultural context, will always be a reminder of the pain suffered by the African-American people. They argue that, while the word can still cause offence when used by the wrong people, it can never be totally neutralized. As such there is a strong argument for the removal of the word from our vernacular altogether. The poet, Dean Atta, summarizes this position best when he writes:

"Rappers, when you use the word 'nigger', remember

That's one of the last words Stephen Lawrence heard

So don't tell me it's a reclaimed word

I am nobody's nigger

More in the "Cosplay is Not Consent" discussion. I started putting this stuff together when I started thinking about slutwalks and their attempt to offer a more victim-friendly (that's not really the right word... hmm....) take on street harassment. These women are asserting their basic rights to dress how they want in their daily lives, and so much like the point at the end of the article these women (and men!) deserve to be treated with respect on the street regardless of what they're wearing.

But it's worse at conventions. Why? Because conventions are perceived to be a safe space. I remember seeing Lauren Orsini Bowers interview a guy who went to cons cross-dressed because he liked it and felt like he fit in. Our 2012 survey indicated that most con goers feel more at home at conventions than the real world.

Dude on show: I'm all for irony, but why not call these 'Empowerment Walks' and avoid the controversy and the [inaudible mumbling]?

Jessica Valenti: Do you think I'd be sitting here if they were called 'Empowerment Walks'?

...

Dude: But it doesn't mean that that's the right thing to do.