Don’t Call Me A Slut

There are people dying like houseflies in terrorist attacks, there are thousands starving to death while tonnes of food grains rot in our so called godowns, there are are millions whose lives depend on whether they get to fill a bucket of water in the morning to last them the remainder of the day, in every village in India there is a woman who has to walk twenty kilometers up and down to fill her pot with water, for the well twelve yards away belongs to a Brahmin, and there are plenty of soot-eyed skull-cap wearing men who, while going to the mosque' have to be at the receiving end of accusatory, suspicious stares. I couldn't care a muck about what you pseudo-intellectuals think about a word.

Walk if that makes you happy but at the end of the day please understand the reasons behind the problem . sex ratio,movie,(india specific),old fashioned culture
http://globalnewsdiscussion.com/index.php?topic=90.0

So after all I ended up writing the long piece I wanted to write.Its a bit long, but hopefully not boring. Just to briefly mention my stand, I have nothing against the campaign in its entirety, but am strongly in disapproval of the Slut Walk Delhi. To presume just because something is getting popular in western cities must be immediately brought to India in exactly the same fashion without contextualizing it is very euro-centric. The word slut has very little use in the Indian vocabulary. Slut Walk in Delhi therefore makes no sense.

Read the rest of my article here - http://sanjukta.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/the-slut-walk-comes-to-delhi-wh...

I think you've missed the whole point of SlutWalk. The message behind the moniker is that calling someone a "slut" is not an excuse to rape them--that no matter what someone wears or how they act, non-consent remains non-consent.

Re men and SlutWalk, I don't know about others around the world, but our SlutWalk was attended by many, many men and there has been a dialogue between the sexes in Australia regarding the marches.

I respond to most of your concerns here: http://zenobiafrost.wordpress.com/2011/06/01/why-i-walked-the-slutwalk/

i don't understand how you are differentiating between slutwalk and others like mendthegap and blanknoise. most of the things you are saying here can be picked up and applied to the latter two, with little if any changes. slutwalk is in essence also flash mob. i am not necessarily disagreeing with what you are saying here, just wondering if it dsn't apply to other rich delhi ac room- internet "awareness campaigns"?

not to say that the slut walk is the most empowering\fresh\ground-breaking idea ever, but this discussion totally ignores people who are sluts, of any type of body. humara kya hoga, aap toh kisi higher moral social code ki hi baat kar rahe hain bus! :)

Agree to what ur saying..though i really like that women now have the courage to come out n speak against sexual harassment but slut walk might not be the answer or the solution we are looking for. In my opinion it will grab attention for all the wrong reasons, and not for the cause but maybe bcos its called the slutwalk...and we don't want that. Plus India is not America. Things are different here and people have a totally diff. mindset. Just a personal opinion.

What does it matter what Wikipedia has defined a ‘slut’ as, as you should already know, the word slut is a socially constructed concept, that has been created to moralise and shame the behaviour, dress and role of women. It’s a bit worrying that you are referencing your sources from Wikipedia, the credibility of such a site is most definitely doubtful to say the least!

Slut Walks are not only for women, they are for men as well, this walk is part of the dialogue, it’s an event open for men and women to support against slut shaming and victim blaming. Mend the Gap does admirable work and addresses the issue of harassment on the metro, but Slut Walk too involves men in their campaigns. A slut walk is an in your face protest that hopes to highlight, that women are NOT the cause of sexual assault and rape and that we will not ignore it. This is not a war on men in the least this is a war on power. As you well know rape and sexual assault is not about sex per se but the power over another individual, it just so happens that men are most often the perpetrators to these crimes, but this does not mean there are not many men who are actively involved in the cause for women’s rights who will be walking right alongside me. Your implication that Slut Walk does not foster a serious partnership with men is quiet frankly insulting. Have a look at the Facebook page and see how many men are supporting Slut Walk and if they are there to check women out- as you say would have done a few years back then so be it. That’s what the Slut Walk is all about, it’s about saying “Hey, it doesn’t matter what I’m wearing, I am not asking for harassment, I am not asking for sexual assault, I am not asking for rape”

You claim “Some commentators are referring to this phenomenon as reclaiming of the term by the feminists, but I’ll rather try to bury such misogynist terms.” You don’t want to be called a slut because this word holds too many negative and demeaning connotations for you. But it’s for this reason, that I want to reclaim such a word. You yourself have given the word ‘slut’ the power of misogyny, instead I would like to embrace it, break it down and make it meaningless. Only then will we be able to shift society’s ideas of what a slut or even a Randi is and only then will we stop using such words to describe women in derogatory terms, especially.

You say ‘we need clarity...” Who is we? I certainly don’t need clarity. I know what Slut Walk aims to do. It is all that you listed in your final paragraph “reclaiming the term, or are they reclaiming the right to dress the way they want to or are they just trying to feel empowered by doing something radical? Or is it about recognizing the issue of street sexual harassment and getting round to doing something about it???” It’s all of those things and why can’t it be?

As you do, I too love the outrageousness, the spirit and the attitude. You can call me a slut if you like!

“No Means No; Yes Means Yes; Wherever We Go; However We Dress.”

This is precisely why i decided against getting involved with the Slut walk.

One simple point i wish to make, taking off from what you mentioned - "slut" is an English word, and the general population is unaware of its meaning/origin. For them, watching a bunch of women traipsing around in whatever they want to wear is "tamaasha", and nothing more.

I doubt that any of these women are going to approach the gawking men and talk to them. Sorry but you need to adapt and improve programmes in order for them to work in your specific surroundings. Slut Walk is a good idea, but needs MAJOR edits.

The name for starters. Slut or not, the average woman would not want to come close to being associated with that word. Am i being mean ? Possibly, with a purpose.

Agree with every word written. And also what may apply to NYC need to necessarily work in Delhi.