Sexual violence: Slutwalk and masculinity

    This week I have a few thoughts circulating. Firstly, upon reading the articles and watching the video on Slutwalk, I was very unsure about my feelings. While I do not personally identity with calling myself a “slut,” I can understand the pervasiveness of this word in oppressing women. Like the Slutwalk in class exercise stated, I believe that the connotation around the term slut would different implications between 2nd wave feminists and the feminists of today. As the culture has changed, so has the connotation of the word, and I see the ways in which women and girls are utilizing the word, themselves, in a much different context than previous generations. That being said, I do still believe that “slut” is being used against women, by men and by other men as a derogatory term. In this time of feminism, like it was said in my game group, I do agree that sex positive feminists are crucial, both in appealing to the broad audience and in establishing a framework for positive sexual relations and understanding consent, and thus making change in the culture of rape and sexual assault. My conclusion on this topic is that while marching in Slutwalk, dressing provocatively and naming yourself a “slut,” maybe subject to many feminist criticisms, I can acknowledge that fact that this is a movement that seeks to do good, is a space where feminist ideas circulate and for those of us like Harsha Walia who aren’t completely sold on the premise, can interpret the movement and support and partake in the walk, while bringing in our own beliefs and resistances on sexual violence and victim blaming.

    My second thought this week pertains the video, “Date Rape Backlash,” and the scene where the athletes were interviewed in the locker rooms. Although these ideas were not new to me, it was still incredibly shocking and sickening to hear these thoughts directly and explicitly and to hear the way they have become ingrained in his, and his team mates understanding of sex, rape and women. Although witnessing that man speak about these “lessons” made me want to scream and cry, it also brought me back to a personal experience I had this week. I found myself in a room while the movie “This is the End” was playing, a movie in the same genre as “Pineapple Express,” etc; this type of humor has never appealed to me and I have been frequently charged by peers for having “no sense of humor,” but I am aware that these films have huge audience scopes and are very popular. The entire film was incredibly unfunny, sexist and misogynist, but one scene that really made me angry was the part where Danny McBride has Channing Tatum in S and M attire, by a leash and explains that he has anally raped him to gain his submission. By watching this scene when taking this class I am reminded of how pop culture reiterates the ideas held by the athletes about masculinity and sexual violence over and over, and functions as a pedagogical text for acceptable male behavior. And although the film we watched is about 20 years old it can still be seen how this same belief of masculinity is embedded in our everyday culture.