It’s been one heck of a week, feminists!
I am so excited about what’s going on right now with feminism in France and SlutWalks that I don’t even know which to talk about first.
If you haven’t heard, a lot of feminist discussion has been stirred up in France in recent weeks after sexual assault and attempted rape accusations were leveled against IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who also happened to be a frontrunner for an upcoming election in France. Strauss-Kahn allegedly attempted to rape a hotel maid in New York City, and was arrested and pulled off his plane just before he took off for a transatlantic flight home.
This incident has caused an outcry from French people who want their culture’s attitudes toward women, especially in the workplace, to change. As Steven Erlanger of the NY Times puts it: “The case has…sharpened the debate about a French way of life, one of tolerance for a male-centric attitude in gender relations, an acceptance of all but the most egregious sexual assaults on women and a reluctance by the authorities to intervene, particularly in cases involving the powerful.”
Analysts and historians are calling this a “watershed” moment for French politics and culture. French citizens are using this incident to galvanize support for everything from equal pay movements and equal political representation to a revision of the kind of “everyday sexism” many French women face in the workplace.
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Here in North America, SlutWalks have spread from their starting place in Toronto to cities around the world and in the U.S., with a DC SlutWalk scheduled for Saturday, August 13.
The SlutWalks began after a police officer told students at York University in Toronto that if they wanted to avoid rape, they shouldn’t “dress like sluts.” A few of the students got angry, and instead of just blogging about it like I do when I’m angry, they did something– dressed like “sluts” and took to the streets.
With any hope, these marches across the country will bring national and international attention to the point that VICTIMS OF RAPE SHOULD NEVER BE BLAMED FOR THEIR RAPE, NO MATTER WHAT THEY WORE OR WHAT THEY DRANK. It’s an age-old point, one that our own Sarah Marcus has written extensively about, but it is one that absolutely needs repeating– it seems to still keep coming up over and over again.
Media commentators and feminist activists are already talking about what these marches might mean in terms of contemporary feminism, and they’re calling it “the future of feminism.” The fact that these marches are being organized by young women, who are often seen (sometimes accurately) as less enthusiastic about the feminist movement, makes them all the more exciting. And the fact that they’re angry. And loud. And in your face– all qualities attributed to the “bra-burning” feminism of the 60s and seen as out of fashion (or, even worse, unnecessary) today. Just because we have gained a lot of rights in the past 40 years does not mean it’s time to be quiet or that it’s wrong to be loud.
Calm, intellectual, quiet discourse is great. But in my opinion, so is taking to the streets and being loud. And when it comes to the safety of women who are being re-traumatized over and over again after an experience of rape due to accusations about what they wear/wore, I think loud is the correct volume.
I know where I’ll be on August 13– how about you?