Protesters hit the streets for a "SlutWalk" in Toronto on April 3.
Posted on 05/08/2011 3:04:19 PM PDT by NYer
BOSTON — An international series of protests known as SlutWalks, sparked by a Toronto police officer's flippant comment that women should avoid dressing like "sluts" to avoid being raped or victimized, is taking root in the United States.
Some women and men who protest dress in nothing more remarkable than jeans and T-shirts, while others wear provocative or revealing outfits to bring attention to "slut-shaming," or shaming women for being sexual, and the treatment of sexual assault victims.
"It was taking the blame off the rapist and on the victim," said Nicole Sullivan, 21, a student at the University of Massachusetts-Boston and an organizer of the SlutWalk planned Saturday in that city. "So we are using these efforts to reclaim the word 'slut.'"
The police officer made his comments in January to a group of York University students at a safety forum. He later apologized, but his comments were publicized widely on Facebook and Twitter. They inspired a march in Toronto last month that drew more than 3,000 people, as well as SlutWalks since then in Dallas, Asheville, North Carolina, and Ottawa, Ontario.
'Shame and degradation'
In addition to Boston, marches are planned in cities including Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, Reno, Nevada, and Austin, Texas.
"The event is in protest of a culture that we think is too permissive when it comes to rape and sexual assault," said Siobhan Connors, 20, of Lynn, Massachusetts, another Boston organizer. "It's to bring awareness to the shame and degradation women still face for expressing their sexuality ... essentially for behaving in a healthy and sexual way."
The events are similar to "Take Back the Night" rallies and other marches that aim to bring attention to sexual violence. But there are key differences.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
eeeew. lotsa nasties in that pic.
Never tell the truth.
You know, there is an old saying in these parts.
If you ain’t sellin’, then don’t advertise.
Hey, you can wear, or not wear, whatever you want, as far as I’m concerned.
But a little bit of common sense would go a long, long, LONG way.
But we can’t have that.
We need to sexualize 8 year olds and have pictures of hard, used-up, over-sexualized women everywhere, not to mention the femmy men who try to look macho by always looking like they need a shave. They look more like lesbians taking hormones. Pathetic.
But hey, have at it.
I ain’t surprised at the way things are turning out, though, and most folks would never blame it on the rampant externalization of inner cravings.
If they were smart, they’d save it for the bedroom. It’s a lot more fun there, anyway, and mutually consenting activity, within the boundaries of a faithful marriage relationship, ain’t anywhere as likely to get you in trouble.
Once again, a community’s “Best and Brightest” hit the streets
Three words to those Slut-protestors:
GET A LIFE.
Make that SEVEN words:
GET A LIFE AND GET A BRAIN.
There’s a (albeit subtle to some dingbats) difference between dressing “attractively” and dressing “provocatively” (i.e., LIKE A SLUT). Granted, with modern media throwing out SLUT-attire in all directions, the line is sometimes blurred. But the garb depicted in this story is not “attractive,” it is SLUTTY. And SLUTS, despite what your typical moron-protestor in that crowd may think, usually INVITE ATTACK from many sources. (Like this one.) Unfair? Maybe life was never meant to be “fair,” but meant to be LIVED by the most intelligent and practical people, while those whining about how UNFAIR LIFE IS usually fall by the wayside.
P.S. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to one and all—slut or nonslut alike! LOL.
I can’t find a single credible “slut” in the shot.
Thin line between the lefty way of doing things and self-parody. I think usually they try to avoid getting too much publicity because it just makes them look like over-the-top Lady GaGa fans or wackos instead of advancing their cause....whatever it’s supposed to be.
I don’t think most rape victims are hotties in their twenties with miniskirts, are they?
They rape women and girls of all different types of appearance and dress.
Every age up to women in nursing homes! Fat and thin, homely and pretty, made up/no make up, all varieties of clothing.
So I don’t really see what women wear or don’t wear has to do with it.
I do understand that a cute woman in a short skirt is attracting sexual attention, but I don’t know that she is more likely to be raped for it.
Try that in Cairo.
Tell it to the rapists.
Well said.
The world has gone mad.
No amount of protesting will change reality. If the punishment for rape (or the false charge of rape) were death or life imprisonment, we would see a lot less of it; at least the recidivism rate would plummet.
This issue is not about "being right," or what one can legally do at all times. It is about enhancing your odds of being a victim of serious injury or worse.
I find it hard to imagine that since robbery and mugging are illegal, I should demonstrate for my right to go into certain areas of most major cities with $100 bills sticking out of all my pockets, and expect not to be robbed, beaten or worse. Sure, I can scream all I want that it's not fair or right that I will be beaten to a pulp and robbed, but the odds of that happening are almost 100%.
Why would I, prior to getting a serious lobotomy, join demonstrations asserting the right to do something stupid?
What would my sign say? "Pigeon Pride?"
"Moron Pride?"
What?
Okay. The mod will remove this post and I can’t blame him, but as long as I have one good working hand........
American Amateur College sluts > Canadian Professional Protester sluts.
I would bet a paycheck that there is an overwhelming number of unseen "tramp stamps" there, too.
(as well as a few perps who would hate to see their victim pool reduced.)
Very little “slutty” but a whole lot of “nutty.”
have a heart for those of us trying to stay holy.
I deal with Canadians in my business all the time and the vast majority of them that are from Toronto are flaming Socialists who love Hillary and Obama. They also blame the Christians for all of the worlds problems. No surprise that they love their sluts.
The usual suspects; dumb as a rock, and under 30.
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