NOTE : THE EVENT SLUT WALK DELHI HAS BEEN POSTPONED TO THE END OF JULY. YOU WILL BE NOTIFIED ONCE THE DATES AND VENUE ARE CONFIRMED. PLEASE CONTINUE USING THIS PAGE AS A FORUM OF DEBATE OR JOIN THE GROUP. AGAIN SLUT WALK IS NOT HAPPENING ON 24TH JUNE!
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Slut Walk Delhi 2011 is an attempt to reclaim the word Slut, to remove the shame, to replace it with pride!A slut is defined as any individual who has loose morals. The Oxford English Dictionary defines slut as ‘a woman who has more than one sexual partner.’ At this point note that the word slut does not mean prostitute. Women aren’t sluts just because we exercise the choice to be our own person. It doesn’t make anyone a slut to wear what he/she wants to, to date endless men/women, to wear high heels or low-cut clothes.
Language and derogatory slang have been used to shame women, to instruct them on how they should behave and what they shouldn’t do. This is what words like ‘slut’ do. They tell you that if you are not moral, that you are inappropriate. They are an insult. They are meant to shame you. But not if we routinise the usage of this term. Not if we take the edge out of the word. Not if we take the shame and disgrace associated with it out.
It all started in Toronto, Canada, when a police man addressing students of York University, made a statement that “women should avoid dressing up as sluts in order to not be victimized.” But it is not just the one comment that has sparked off this movement, causing millions of women across the globe to take to the streets, participating in Slut walks. Although the concept has originated from the west, it holds a lot of relevance in our country, in our city, what with the rampant modernisation that comes with an ever widening gap in mindset.
With the amount of rapes happening in our city and the extent to which they are normalised, adding to the humiliation of the victim the trauma of being a slut, something needs to be done.
Victim-blaming, as is the norm, is a significant product of the disgustingly omnipresent Rape Culture. Ina city where girls are molested in broad daylight, on footpaths and in busses and metros, the purpose of a slut walk is to bring to the attention of the society that the problem is not what we do, but what is done to us.
In our society, rape is touted as an act of sex and sexual attraction. It isn’t. It’s a heinous crime of violence. It’s a hegemonic tool of oppression that seeks to ‘punish’ women. It’s a threat to the very being of women. Not the act itself, but the connotations it has. Rape is the complete refusal to give a woman the choice to her own body. Rape is a patriarchal tool designed to ensure that women are kept in check, that they always remain the ‘second sex’. It seeks to reiterate that women are supposed to remain at the mercy of men. We repeat, rape is NOT about sex or lust.
Even so, the woman is always blamed for bringing on the rape. What was she doing alone at night?! Why was she wearing a skirt?! Why did she not have a male companion with her?! How could her parents let her go out of the house without her brother or father?! Why was she driving alone?! We cast aspersions on the character of the woman, and her morals. It has to be her fault, doesn’t it? The men are not at fault. The men are only serving justice on a platter. She asked for it; THAT seems to be there defence. We see it around us. Whether it is newspaper reports or in discussions related to rape. Women are told not to wear clothes that show their ‘enticing bits’. They are told they should learn self defence and carry pepper sprays, never mind the effectiveness of each. Women are taught, from a very early age, not to be raped. To be careful, to be on the guard. We feel the horrors and fears of being raped every day of our lives. But we are told to internalise it and live with it. Because men will be men. No, men will never be taught NOT to rape. ‘Aise ladkiyon ke saath toh aisa hi hona tha!’
No woman ever asks for rape. NO woman, whatever she wears, however she thinks, whoever she sleeps with, EVER asks for rape. They will get by with crimes of violence targeted at women, because the implication will be that the woman asked for it.
This shifting of blame on the victim from the perpetrator of crime shows the rising levels of intolerance that the culture has towards women. But this isn’t just about rape. It’s about the throttling psychological burden we women are forced to carry. It’s about living with fear in a rape culture. Every single day. All of us live with the knowledge that it could be us next. What sort of a civil society are we talking about if it makes half of its citizenry feel unsafe and vulnerable? The mindset that we put up with, every single day, has only contempt for women who decide to be their own person. Don’t wear a dress, don’t laugh too loud, don’t talk in loud voice, don’t cuss and swear, don’t look at men who stare at you, wear loose clothing, carry a pepper spray, learn self defence and learn how to fight the aggressors. They are not just innocuous tips; they are a noose for us women. This is a movement against perpetrators of sexual crimes, against the mindset that looks down upon us for being independent and expressive.
. This is why we are walking, walking with pride. Yes we are sluts, and we are proud of it! Join us! Wear whatever you want, say what you want!
