The Rise Of The Slut-Walk…
Social media has never been more powerful than it has today. With a significant rise in social media activism, the internet has not only become the centre for cultural movements, but also a tool of oppression against women. 2020 has seen the ‘Slut-Walk’ movement emerge as a major phenomenon. Annie Minogue speaks to the ‘women behind the clothes’ in order to investigate the psychological effects of slut-shaming on young females.
The Trans-national movement ‘Slut Walk’ aims to call for an end to sexual violence, harrassment, and rape. Since the movement commenced in 2011, Toronto canada. It has provoked a wave support globally in cities like London, Los Angeles, New Delhi, and New Zealand.The origins of the slut walk movement date back to 2011,Toronoto after a police officer stated that women should “avoid dressing like sluts” to prevent themselves from becoming rape victim’s. The officer’s statement was said to have promoted rape culture and victim-blaming amongst women. Ultimately these statements provoked a controversial reaction, influencing thousands of women to gather in protest wearing short dresses and mini skirts to prove that a womens clothing should not justify nor perpetuate sexual violence or rape. Although the Slut-Walk movement is not the first cultural movement that’s attempted to fight against female oppression its presence in today’s society has significantly increased with females all over the globe expressing their support for the movement. So what is ‘Slut-Shaming’?… slut shaming does not occur in one single form and it is not exclusive to women. Whilst sexual violence and hate speeches are predominantly directed at women by men, slut shaming can come from females themselves and effect men in the same ways. Research tells us that young females aged 18-30 in particular are more likely to experience some form of ‘Slut-Shaming’ to a more intense degree. Not only are we living in a communications era, we are living in an increasingly sexualised society where young females spend long hours on social media platforms being exposed to sexualised images of other young females that have become ’normalized’. This makes them more prone to derogatory remarks and hate speeches as they spend most there time at the centre of cyber bullying and internet trolling.
“A survey conducted by the Royal Society for Public Health asked 14-24 year olds in the UK how social media platforms impacted their health and well-being. The survey results found that Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all led to increased feelings of depression, anxiety, poor body image and loneliness.”
Three Women & a Story…
During a short interview with 21, Malikah Rahman-reid she tells us her personal experiences with slut-shaming and why she is in full support of the slut-walk movement.
One evening in the bourough of Clapham, 21 year old Malikah Rahman-reid found herself in a small bar at approximately 10pm. Dressed in a fitted red satin mini dress and black lace-up heels. Miss reid and her friend waited at the bar and waited to order a drink, the lights were dim, the music was defining, it was nothing more than a typical Saturday night in a South-London bar. Miss reid went on to reveal her experience that night…“the looks girls gave me, i could tell what thet was thinking, why is her skirt that short?…Who does she think she is?..As the night progressed reid describes her encounters with men who attempted to speak to her at the bar.
“As soon as they approached me they asked for my number, no conversation not even a hello. Even after saying no they felt they were entitled to speak to me. You expect it from Men, it’s apart of their sexuality but for a female to slut shame a women makes no sense to me, is it Jealousy? self confidence issues? i will never understand why women who know the struggles we face collectively would subject another women to that?”.
Miss Reid had suffered for year’s, had multiple encounters of this nature, she was tired of being subjected to the brutal treatment of a patriarchal society. Left struggling with feelings of anxiety and depression Reid described that night as a ‘tipping point’ she no longer felt confident in herself, instead she was left feeling paranoid of how she would appear to others. Would she appear to easy? Was she not classy enough? Would she be labelled a ’slut’ for wearing a low cut bodysuit?…
“Personally I never really got over the path effects of being shamed, you never forget how people have made you feel. I just learned to deal with it, i still feel anxious before leaving the house on a night out, that last look in the mirror i always think ‘is this too revealing’ or am i dressed ok?”
Reid goes onto say that she feels today’s culture teaches young girls to accept and endure harassment and slut shaming. “This is something i would never want my daughter to accept or endure, so im in full support of the slut-walk movement.”
The effects of slut shaming can be detremental to a womens mental health in particular young females. Young girls often experience the emotional impact to a more intensive degree. Experts like Dr Steiner-Adair believe that “girls are socialised more to compare themselves to other people, girls in particular to develop their identities, so it makes them more vulnerable to the downside of all this.”
Surveillance or Self-veillance?…
An interview with 19 year old Chantel Davis:
”When I was around 18 i was actively dating and exploring my sexuality for the first time. Being one of the first to be sexually active out of my friends and the girls around me I remember a few girls, even some of my friends making remarks in regards to me having a higher ’body count’ than them. They made me feel ashamed of it to the point I found it normal to lie about i the amount of men i had been intimate with”.
Chantel goes on to express her concerns for female’s slut shaming each other:
“When slut shaming comes from a female its different, i mean you expect it from men so it doesn’t sting as much. However when its a female you take it more personally. Although When girls tend to slut shame it stems from a different place, often because of jealousy or just intimidation it hurts more because its a women, and any women knows how hard it is to be a women in today’s society”.
The war of the ’body count’ has become a major concern in society, a survey roller 1,326 women between the ages of 18-30 and asked them what lies where they most likely to tell in a relationship. Research tells us that 55% of women admit that they lie to their partners to make them like them more. 52% of these women also said that the most common lie was in relation to their body count.
My body my choice, the female commodity…
2020 has seen women all over the globe fighting back against patriarchal control and laws that restrict women’s rights. We have also seen significant political figures like Donald Trump sparking a wave of controversy amongst women in his ’Baby lives matter’ campaign to support the anti-abortion movement. We have also seen waves of protests breaking out in Poland over anti-abortion rulings. The rise of the #proabortion movement emerged May 2019 after 25 white senators voted in favour of the most restrictive abortion bill in history. The bill set out to criminalise abortions in the state of Alabama with no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. The passing of this legislation received large scale attention especially amongst social media users, the hashtag ’#Stopmakinglawsaboutwomensbodies’ was seen circulating around platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter within hours.
The conflict between the POSCO (Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences Act) and the MTP act in India has left doctors hesitant to provide abortions to girls under the age of 18 due to fears of legal prosecution. Consequently, the young girls of India are seeking out unorthodox methods of abortion. With global conflicts surrounding women’s rights increasing support for the slut-walk movement has increased to an unprecedented level. However, it has also triggered debates on women in India who question whether the Slut-walk movement is appropriate In Indian society. The movement has been criticised for failing to be ’inclusive’ to women who do not have the privilege to sexually define themselves without a negative stigma being attached.
Expert Ms Ali believes that ”the problem with the mindset of society, they have double standards towards the fair sex. How many times are men told to dress in a particular way? Only girls are constantly blamed for dressing skimpily.”
In an interview with Sheena Kanwar she tells us her perspective on slut-shaming in Indian societies.
”Being a young girl in India is hard from personal experience I wasn’t able to be a young girl, you can’t make the mistakes a young girl would make. You can’t dress how you want, if I was to wear a short skirt on the street I may not come home…the men would torture and harrass me. Being slut-shamed in India has become so normalized that women are scared to participate or publicly support events like the slut-walk due to fears of Indian men punishing them.”
”i think the slut-walk is a good thing, if we continue to allow men to control us and hide in fear as women we will always be subjected to sexual violence. We have seen laws being made about the female body and this is just the start! If we don’t fight back now soon our bodies will be theirs too.”
Looking at research on women from Indian societies it is clear that many women share Ms Kanwars view. Activist Ratna Kupur tells us that…
”Through my experience with the Slut-walk, I have had to deal with a lot of backlash from feminists, misogynists, conservatives, radicals and the whole gamut.”
The Slut Walk is the result of the frustration of the stigmatisation of female sexuality, it’s more than a movement but rather a stand against patriarchal control and a way to regain ownership over their bodies. With tensions between men and women growing and the current political climate it is evident that the movement is far from over and we can expect to see more from the the #Slutwalkmovement as we enter 2021.