Marching for a new liberation

I’ve yet to see a protest with a name as intriguing and controversial as SlutWalk, a new wave of protests against sexism, rape culture, and victim-blaming. As the movement spreads, cities from Berlin to Minneapolis grapple with whether or not to brandish their banners with the sexist term. Nevertheless, the name has stuck, not in an attempt to reappropriate the term “slut,” but rather to stay true to the original SlutWalk, which exploded in Toronto after a cop advised female students at York University to “avoid dressing like sluts” to prevent sexual assault.

With the motto of “No matter who you are, no matter where you work, no matter how you identify, no matter how you flirt, no matter what you wear, no matter whom you choose to love, no matter what you said before: No one has the right to touch you without your consent,” SlutWalk NYC is the latest of nearly 90 SlutWalks worldwide. The messages may be simple, but the need for this movement is dire. Contrary to popular belief, women’s liberation has not been realized. We have actually lost ground in the past few decades. Columbia gets to experience a campus-specific sexism through jokes that highlight this double standard at the expense of Barnard students. From the traditional jokes describing Barnard women as loose women to a new self-depreciating Twitter account describing Barnard women as sexually active alcoholics, we certainly have our own home-grown, sexist double standard.

The media bombards women with messages telling them that they are lucky to be living in a “post-feminist” America. Enterprises like Playboy and Girls Gone Wild masquerade as proof that women control their bodies. Cosmopolitan presents itself as the voice of the liberated woman. Yet the only freedom these outlets propagate is for women to express a sexuality centered on “how to please your man.” Through this, women are presented with a double standard: dress sexy, be sexually available—but not too sexy or too available.

The most damning pieces of evidence against the myth of “post-feminism” are the statistics of our rape culture. One in six women has been the victim of attempted or completed rape, and that number climbs to one in four for college-aged women. Only 40 percent of rapes will be reported to the police, and if a rape is reported, there is only a 6 percent chance that the rapist will spend a day in jail. It’s estimated that 15 out of 16 rapists walk free.

This cannot be explained by a broken justice system alone.

The culture of victim-blaming not only lessens the chance of prosecution, but discourages women from reporting the crime. Victims are accused of “asking for it” based on past sexual encounters or attire. Often times, police will consider a rape charge “unfounded” if drugs or alcohol were involved, despite the fact that studies have shown that drugs and alcohol play a role in 50 percent of rapes.

SlutWalk is not only combating a culture in which rape is tolerated and normalized through rampant sexual objectification, but is also a response to attacks on women’s health. In addition to the constant attempt to take away women’s right to abortion, recent pushes to defund Planned Parenthood send the message that women’s basic health is less important than a political agenda. Some have gone so far as to try to redefine rape, so that a woman would have to prove that she engaged in a physical struggle with her attacker. These initiatives are not restricted to red states. Whether we as students are directly affected by these laws should they be implemented, we as New Yorkers would suffer from a city with puny rape laws and an underfunded Planned Parenthood. When women are denied the right to health care, we certainly don’t live in a “post-feminist” society.

SlutWalk is not an attempt to reclaim a term—it is the beginning of a new women’s liberation movement. It is a chance for all people, of all genders, of all sexualities, and of all races to challenge rape culture. This is the fight to control our bodies, define our own sexualities, and enable others to do the same.

The author is a General Studies junior majoring in sociology. She is a member of the International Socialist Organization at Columbia.