Week 7 Blog

One event that has the feminist world buzzing lately is the SlutWalk in Toronto. The SlutWalk is a reactionary movement to one police officers comment that "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized". The SlutWalk has feminists and women from all over dressing in skimpy clothing and lingerie to protest against the statement.

However, I think there is an inherent paradox in this campaign. It seems that although these skimpily clad feminist walk to reclaim their right to sexual appeal without being stigmatized, they are upholding the stigma themselves by dressing suggestively. Lingerie is made and created to be erotic and visually appealing to men, yet these women dressed in lingerie are protesting against the standard that created lingerie. In that sense, these women are arguing for both sides and in essence protesting against what they are implicating in their clothing.

The following article talks about the SlutWalk in more detail:

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/10/slutwalk_rally.php