SlutWalk: the wrong message or a great idea?

We asked five high-profile commentators whether telling women and girls that they should be free to dress ‘sluttily’ is right Our panel comprised Jo-Anne Nadler, a Conservative author of books such as ‘Too nice to be a Tory’; Julie Bindel, a feminist campaigner and co-founder of Justice for women; Brix Smith-Start, a TV presenter and fashion store owner; Shaista Aziz, a stand-up British, Pakistani and Mulsim comedian from Manchester; and Vicky Simister, a SlutWalk supporter and founder of the London Anti-Street Harassment campaign. In light of evidence that many men and women, including police officers in the UK, believe that women share the blame if they are raped, should we be encouraging young women to dress less provocatively? Vicky Simister: I started Anti-Street Harassment UK after I was sexually harassed and ultimately assaulted, and the police implied that I’d brought about my own assault by my demeanour that night. So I’ve experienced this attitude and, through anecdotal evidence from women I’ve met, it’s an attitude that’s rife. But it amounts to victim-blaming. Rape is non-consensual sex; therefore to dress like a slut is not to bring on your own rape. The idea that, if you look like what society thinks is a slut, you’re somehow responsible, is repugnant. The idea that being a hooker, a slut, a whore, any of these other hate terms, makes you open to being blamed for being raped is just diabolical. Brix Smith-Start: I feel so strongly that people should wear what they like to wear, what makes them feel good. Clothes are self-expression, but you have to be aware it can trigger things in other people. That is not something you can control. You can only control yourself. So it’s really important to be aware. One of my first fashion experiences was at around 13, staying with a girlfriend out in Michigan, and we were having a Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver moment, and we dressed up in her mother’s clothes, including platform shoes, and got out all the makeup and went off to the truck stop and drank coffee and smoked cigarettes. And the truckers followed us home and were beating on the door, and we were terrified and hiding under the bed. My friend’s older sister was saying: “Girls, what have you done?” And we realised there is power in how you dress, you do put out an attitude. And you have to be aware of that. But I truly believe that women should wear whatever they like, and celebrate femininity, sexuality, power dressing, any which way it comes – go for it. It makes me quite ill, what the policeman

Posted by on May 15, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.