SlutWalks: Feminism in fishnets
Over the next two months, women clad in scanty attire will be taking to the streets in cities around the world to heighten awareness about sexual violence.
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
“Brace yourself for the summer of sluts,” said Brian Alexander in MSNBC.com. Over the next two months, women clad in push-up bras, short skirts, fishnets, and other scanty attire will be taking to the streets in 70 cities all over the globe—including Los Angeles and Chicago last weekend—to raise “awareness about sexual violence.” This feminist movement began in January, when a policeman told students at Toronto’s York University not to dress like “sluts” if they wanted to avoid being raped. That single phrase sparked global outrage because it “reconfirmed all the clichés” about sexual assault, said Janet Bagnall in the Montreal Gazette. SlutWalks are giving women a chance to show their fury at the justice system’s continuing inability to grasp the obvious: that no victim of sexual assault is “asking for it,” regardless of what she wears, and that only the assailant deserves blame.
This is such a “myopic” protest, said Julie Szego in The Sydney Morning Herald. In dwelling on relatively minor grievances of Western women, feminism ignores the problems of the “world’s most vulnerable women.” Rape victims in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are considered adulterers and are “brutally punished.” In recent years, thousands of women and girls have been raped in Congo. “Yet what triggered SlutWalk?” Not the suffering of Congolese or Pakistani women, “but the supposed oppression of the women of Toronto.” The SlutWalk movement also ignores the role our “hypersexualized society” has played in distorting women’s self-images, said Jenny McCartney in the London Telegraph. Internet porn and pop culture exert enormous pressure on prepubescent and teen girls to dress like Christina Aguilera, Rihanna, and other pop stars, and act sexy “before they even understand what sex is.” I’m familiar with the concept of “reclaiming the word,” but maybe young women should be rejecting “slut” instead of embracing it.
You’re missing an important historical point, said Jessica Valenti in The Washington Post. Going back to the suffragettes, who wore pants, and the ’60s feminists, who burned their bras, women activists have always used clothing to shock men and make a political point. The “slut walk” protests are operating on that same principle. For too long, feminism has been “on the defensive.” Now women are back on the streets, generating controversy and demanding respect. With that uncompromising attitude, we hope to “change our supposedly respectable society into one that truly respects men, women, and yes, even ‘sluts.’”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
Volkswagen ID.5 review: what the car critics say
The ID.4's 'sportier, more stylish twin' – but 'don't believe the hype'
By The Week Staff Published
-
Azerbaijan attacks disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, breaking cease-fire
The 'local anti-terrorist' strikes in the ethnic Armenia enclave threaten to reignite a war with implications for Russia, Turkey and the West
By Peter Weber Published
-
Opera critic make-up gaffe
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published