Slut Stories:

Layered Narratives of SlutWalk Participants

Jennifer Seifert

History

• Jan. 24th, 2011 York University (Toronto- Canada)• “I’m told I’m not supposed to say this, but women should

avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized” - Michael Sangunientti

• April 3rd, 2011 first SlutWalk – 4000 people in attendance• 13 countries including, New Zealand, South Africa, India,

Singapore, Israel, Nepal, and the United States

Research Question?

• “creating grassroots models of leadership, using strategic humor, building feminist identity, sharing stories, and resisting stereotyped labels” (Sowards and Renegar, 2007, p. 338).

• Understand participants motivations for involvement• What messages are participants communicating in their

participation• How participants envision feminism

Study Design

• 67 participants – 64 women and 3 men• Participants ranged in 18 – 56 years (M = 26.06)• Predominantly Caucasian:• Asian, Native American, Hispanic, Greek, Australian, British,

Chilean, Jewish, Puerto Rican, Latina, Mutt

• All adults who participated in a SlutWalk• Chicago, Seattle, Portland, London SlutWalks represented• Open ended questions administered Qualtrics• Contacted SlutWalk organizations for permission to post on

their Facebook pages

Questions

• Do you identify as a feminist? Why or why not?• Please tell me the story of how you came to participate in

SlutWalk?• What message were you trying to convey through your

participation in SlutWalk?• How do/would you respond to someone who doesn’t

agree with or understand why you participate in SlutWalk?

Themes

• Specific Themes• Feminism• Controversy• Motivation• Inspiration

• General Themes• Relationships• Education• Word “Slut”• Experience

Feminism – Label

“I dislike the man-hating, not-shaving, bitter woman associations of the word "feminist" so I try to avoid it as much as possible around most people I meet for the first time. That being said, I do consider myself a modern feminist and openly call myself one from time to time.”

“Yes. To me, the word "feminist" indicates a person who believes in and advocates for the legal, social, and economic equality of men and women. I think it's important for this definition to be re-claimed, as it has been greatly distorted in popular media.”

“No because I’m a man”

Reclamation

Resistance

Feminism – Label

“I don't really think of myself as a feminist. I don't think that I as a women deserve anything more or less than a man, because this doesn't take into account transgender issues. I am more for equal human rights. Regardless of gender everyone deserves to be treated with respect and compassion.”

No. I identify as an activist. I am active in changing the world.

I don't. I am a humanist. I believe in equal rights for all.

I do not. I identify as an ally (I am a MSM so I feel like it's harder for me to feminist identify).

Controversy -

“I try to explain how clothing doesn't increase or decrease the odds of one being raped. Tell them stories of all the rape survivors who were wering [sic] sweats, bagging jeans, burkas, onesies with footies as babies. Help them explore the concept of victim-blaming and the myths surrounding rape being about lust or self-control. / Compare to concept of Take Back the Night - which has a similar message, but people seem generally okay. / Explain that it (the march) alone will not stop rape, but is needed to start discussion in other to change the culture that allows and jokes about sexual assault.”

“it creates a great start to a conversation about why and exactly where we cross the line into victim blaming. It also creates opportunities to highlight where we as a society accept rape as happenstance and "understandable" and how very many places in media and entertainment we glorify rape and objectify women without even realizing it. When people don't understand why I walk it gives me a chance to talk about WHY I MUST.”

Rhetorical Moves

Conversation Starter

The word “slut”

While I dress modestly myself, it is not acceptable for society to bully someone or label them based upon appearances. Extending that to point where we connect their attire to their attack is outrageous and Sluwalk sends that message too. It obviously took the word "Slut" in the title of our march to get the publics attention. They sure didn't listen to our tears and our personal pain.

“The main thing I find people object to is the reclaiming of the word "slut." They cannot get past its negative connotations, and that right there is the reason the word needs to be reclaimed. When there is an equivalent pejorative applied to males, with the same level of negativity and implied superiority, then the word will have served its purpose.”

Reclamation Consciousness Raising

Experience

“I had been a member of a church for nearly 2 decades, when I went to a leader to tell them I had been raped he was very nice, and comforting, the next day I was told I needed to move out of the church housing, a week later I was asked to stop teaching Sunday school. They kept saying it was only until I went through counseling, and then someone finished the sentence, all along they had believed that I was at fault for my own rape, in fact they believed it was not rape, but choice, and that I called it rape so my boyfriend would not think I cheated on him. I spent a nearly two years hiding from the rape afraid that that would be everyones response, and then started getting help. Even with my many disabilities knowing that there is a movement I need to be involved, keep the next girl from what happened to me.”

Experience

As a female and an sexual abuse survivor, my message is that it was not my fault. It took many years for me to realize that. Victim blaming needs to be stopped.

That what happened to me was NOT my fault.

To challenge the premise that a sexual assault victim "asked for it." To show support to my sister who was raped.

Experience

“That what happened to me was NOT my fault.”

“I'm stronger than I think I am. I'm not the only person that has gone through this”

“That victim blaming and "slut shaming" are unnaccpetable responses to rape. We need to hold ourselves and each other responsible for this wrongly assigned burden of obligation and guilt. It is the first step in correcting our legal system and how it treats victims and predators.”

Status…