[Swinging Man]

So apparently a lady in Toronto was raped and a police officer made a comment about how she was dressed played into her getting raped. Now that has kicked off these protest walks called "Slut Walk" where women march dressed I guess you could say...slutty. This now hitting America and is coming to my city soon. Here's the thing for me, no matter what a woman wears it never justifies rape. A woman could walk around naked and I still don't think that would justify rape. Nothing justifies rape. What I don't get is using the term slut, or glorifying it. Some guys I know addressed this fact that they support the walk but it should be called something else. They received in return some volatile responses/insults from women that are going to take part in this. A lot of it sounded like pre-scripted bullshit. The one thing that interested me though was that these women are claiming to use the word slut to take it back and get rid of it's bad connotation. I've never heard of an "N-word" walk, or any other racial slur walk for that matter. To me the word, slut, is nowhere in the same realm as the n-word or any other racial slur. To me, if you dress like a slut then you shouldn't be surprised if someone calls you a slut. The simple solution is to not dress like a slut. It reminds me of something that Chris Rock said once. Something like "If you go up to someone that is in a police officer uniform and say "Excuse me police officer" could you imagine them saying "How dare you!!! I'm not a police officer!! I'm just wearing the uniform"? It doesn't happen that way. If you wear the ho uniform you should expect people to think you are a ho".

So...what the fuck gives?

[Potemkin]

You say the word 'slut' like it's a bad thing.

[Wolfman]

Their intention is probably to try to neutralize the word. Like when African Americans use the n-word to 'take it back' and reduce the impact it has on their peoples.

[Rei Murasame]

Pretty much, Potemkin has summed up the apparent purpose of the event quite simply. The purpose is to raise awareness for the normalisation of promiscuity and put an end to a lot of needless hyperventilating.

Argentocoxus would be proud. So just lie back and enjoy it (no promiscuous innuendo intended). Well, assuming that the walk actually contributes positively to the goal that they are aiming for - it's still unknown as to whether it will help anything.

[Takkon]

What's wrong with the line of reasoning the police officer used? I mean sure, women should wear whatever they want in an appropriate setting, but around your friends at a house party is a sight bit different than in a bar in the middle of a city late on a friday night (or something similar). Unless it's the appropriate setting, men should not go around wearing flashy clothing to show off their sexual viability and neither should women. The difference being, men are putting themselves up to get robbed, and women are putting themselves up to get raped. Just don't dress in a way that brings a lot of attention to yourself, and you won't increase your risk of going through a crime. That, I think, is what the officer is saying.

[Wolfman]

While there's something to be said for local appropriate dress, there's also something to be said for not blaming the victim. Also, Rei shit fit in 5, 4, 3...

[Takkon]

Who's blaming the victim? When I tell someone they should carry around a gun in a bad neighborhood, am I blaming them for any crime that is perpetrated against them while they don't have a gun? No, I am instructing them on how to remain safe. There's a difference between blaming and advising the victim. The officer is not coddling the sexual assault victim and saying something straight up: if you want to be safer, you should dress appropriately. If you leave your iPod in your car out and in the open and then park in a bad neighborhood, don't be surprised when you get it stolen. That's not to say that it's your fault, but you did leave your iPod out and it contributed to the theft. This is common sense, not blaming the victim.

[Wolfman]

Who's blaming the victim?

The cop. Who you basically just said was right.

[Takkon]

uh huh ...

[Suska]

protest walks called "Slut Walk" where women march dressed I guess you could say...slutty

What are they protesting? Are they unhappy they did not get raped too?

[Donna]

Are they unhappy they did not get raped too?

What is that supposed to mean?

[Daktoria]

Maybe she was in the red light district dressed like a prostitute?

News link would be great.

[Old Brit]

There is no excuse for men raping women, however there is also no reason why women cant keep some common decency whenout on the streets. If women wear revealing clothing then it generally sends a message that the want men to be looking at them and admiring them, if women want men to be admiring their body its not illogical that their hoping to be taking someone home at the end of the day. Not that this is excuse for rape but woman could save themselves a lot of hassle by simply covering up (which is common decency anyway).

[Potemkin]

There is no excuse for men raping women, however there is also no reason why women cant keep some common decency whenout on the streets. If women wear revealing clothing then it generally sends a message that the want men to be looking at them and admiring them, if women want men to be admiring their body its not illogical that their hoping to be taking someone home at the end of the day. Not that this is excuse for rape but woman could save themselves a lot of hassle by simply covering up (which is common decency anyway).

Translation: prey animals should camouflage themselves to avoid predators.

[Thunderhawk]

A group of people want a fringe cultural aspect to be brought into the mainstream.

I suspect its supporters are made up primarily of:

- People who want such revealing and alluring clothing to become as mainstream (even if they chafe at such terms) as wearing Jeans to church or running shoes in a business environment. Normal for some, acceptable for most/all.

- Provocateurs, this is their current pet cause.

- Those who revel in soft and non-extreme fringe behaviour. A march would allow such people to be them selves, without legal consequences nor social condemnation. Scandalous-lite.

[layman]

Im not sure the exact quote but 'dressing slutty' is a pretty universal term these days. If the policeman was just providing statistical information on how this increases risk, then whats wrong with that.

I dont see anyone in the west proposing laws to outlaw being a slut, its just some people are of the opinion its a bad idea. In my experience, 'slutty women' usually behave this way out of low self esteem.

[Swinging Man]

http://www.slutwalktoronto.com/

To me the word slut has a bad connotation and always had. I don't see being a slut as a good thing. Sluts are...well sluts. I don't think they should be victimized for being sluts but damn right when I see a slut I'm going to look down on them. I don't think being a slut is something that should be normalized, or have the bad connotation taken away. If women don't like it then really, don't dress like a slut and don't sleep around like a slut.

[Potemkin]

To me the word slut has a bad connotation and always had. I don't see being a slut as a good thing. Sluts are...well sluts. I don't think they should be victimized for being sluts but damn right when I see a slut I'm going to look down on them. I don't think being a slut is something that should be normalized, or have the bad connotation taken away. If women don't like it then really, don't dress like a slut and don't sleep around like a slut.

Hostility towards female promiscuity is a legacy of the time when women were treated as the property of the male head of the household (first her father, then her husband) - female promiscuity would lower the value of that property, and was therefore strongly discouraged. This attempted male control of female sexuality still persists, however, despite the fact that its economic basis has largely disappeared. This is the basis of the current attempts by feminists to reclaim the word 'slut', so that it can no longer be used as an instrument of social control.

[Takkon]

Potemkin, what all does that have to do with the man's comments in the OP and the feminists' automatic reaction against it? You're not really assessing the truth-value of the statement, just giving lofty historical reasons that these women MIGHT be using to justify their rhetoric. In reality, I think their line of thinking goes more like this:

Man tells woman that the way she dress puts her at risk > Women interpret this as meaning don't dress like a slut > Women think they should be able to dress however they want, which includes dressing like a slut

This is not about fighting the normalization of sexuality, this is about what they perceive as a direct slight against women by the patriarchy, or whatever. In other words, they're just idiots giving their own cause a bad name through their un-savvy rhetoric.

[Suska]

Potemkin

So.. presumably people don't have value unless they are a formal possession? Or are you suggesting that promiscuity doesn't lower a woman's value anymore?