Just when I was trying hard to find the next topic for my blog … I received this mail from a near & dear ;) …. And this blog is a response to that ..
Mail Subject: India gears up for holy shit :) ....
Mail Body: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Now-India-gears-up-for-a-slut-walk/Article1-705625.aspx
what the F ?
Can the female chauvinists explain ?
This is about the ‘Slut Walk’ which has been branded a Social Movement, as the article claims. The first reaction most of us would give is that it’s disgusting, the very sound of it.
But is that all, is there really nothing more to it to think and ponder. Just push it aside on the face value, or to be precise the name value. Well, it surely made me think…. Both the mail and the article :).
Honestly, I am not for it. I surely neither have the guts, nor do I advocate this. I don’t mean about why this is being done. I say I don’t advocate the way it is being done. If seriously, every women feels that how and what they are wearing is for themselves and not for anybody else, then they don’t have to do it this way. They don’t have to wear skimpy clothes to prove anyone anything. And most importantly, by doing this kind of an act, especially in a country like India (where we have women activists and NGOs demanding for beauty contests that should not have a bikini round), they would evoke multiple useless controversies which will completely eclipse the actual issue this movement is supposed to bring out.
Now, this was the part what I thought when I saw the question ‘what the F’ in the mail I was talking about. Now when I went further down my process of thinking for the other part of the mail ‘female chauvinists explain’ , I really started thinking about the root where all this started.
Most of us would have heard of the term ‘Victim Blaming’ - a phrase coined and popularized in 1971 by psychologist William Ryan, traditionally emerged especially in racist and sexist forms (as told in Wiki). As per the rape shield law, cross-examination of the accuser w.r.t. his or her prior sexual history, or the manner in which he or she was dressed at the time of the rape, is prohibited. However, there are exceptions provided in most of the cases. Statistically, it has been proven that most of the rape cases are not provoked by the victim, and it’s the weakness and vulnerability that makes someone target. Most of the times it is committed by people who know you well. The elderly get raped, persons with disabilities get raped, children get raped, men get raped - is clothing a factor there? And in most of the cases, fingers point to the victim saying, she must have dressed up or behaved like a slut.
Here are some news headlines:
… 16-year-old can’t press charges against UW basketball player because witnesses portrayed the act as consensual …
… Rapist will not go to jail because “sex was in the air” …
… 11-year-old girl blamed for being gang raped …
… Man admits to raping 4-year-old and 8-year-old but blames them for “initiating sexual contact” …
… British Justice Secretary suggests “date rape” is not as serious as other kinds of rape …
… Russian rape case: Goa CM blames victim …
… Women Say Some Rape Victims Should Take Blame" …
These ‘Slut Walks’ have happened or are planned in various cities, and the message at every place is the same:

-> “Women take part in the "Marcha das Vagabundas" (Slutwalk) protest in Sao Paulo June 4, 2011. The demonstrators are protesting sexism, rape and sexual crimes.”

-> “The aim, say organizers, is to highlight a culture in which the victim rather than rapist or abuser is blamed.”
-> “About 250 people have joined a "SlutWalk" in Cardiff that organizers
say defends victims of sexual assault.”
-> “About 250 people have joined a "SlutWalk" in Cardiff that organizers
say defends victims of sexual assault.”

posters ‘I’m a slut’ in this march.
