SlutWalk: Sex is not the enemy!

Let’s talk about sex baby! (Let’s talk about you and me uh-huh) *does a little dance*...*ahem*

What does the word slut mean to you? Have you ever heard a person use slut in a positive sense? Why does a male equivalent not exist? Why do people feel the need to label a woman for her sexual choices, why is it any of their business and indeed why is it viewed as a bad thing?

If everyone is consenting and healthy, then other people’s sex lives are really none of our business. Why as a society are we so intent on putting our morals onto other peoples personal lives when it has no effect on us?

Hey guess what guys, sex is healthy!

Everyone does it! Shock horror! Most people find it fun ;D

The word slut is only ever used to damage, outcast and dehumanize women. We need to question its very existence. It puts a rule down on them regarding personal choices...You can’t do this, you can’t do that, because you will be called a slut, and you will have to deal with the ramifications of this... even if it means being sexually assaulted. Your sexuality is being controlled.

The people involved in the SlutWalk Movement are marching to prove that “a slut” does not exist – it’s a term of abuse catapulted at women for so many different reasons, with countless different definitions. It’s a word that shows that female sexuality is still controlled, that is objectified rather than celebrated. By coming together and putting us all under a SlutWalk label so to speak, celebrating sexual diversity and choice, we’re highlighting that not only can women be called a slut for such irrelevant reasons, but that by using words like slut, society is ignoring the real causes of rape. We’re confronting the word slut.

Sexuality and objectification RAWR! 

                                                          

Sexual objectification is using someone simply for sex, ignoring every other element of that person and seeing them as an object rather than a person.

This sounds horrible, doesn’t it? It’s something that is incredibly prominent in our culture though, because sexuality is shamed rather than celebrated, we end up with this sex negative objectifying culture.

We grow up in a society where words like slut (whore, tart, etc etc etc) are used to brand women for their perceived sexuality, by branding them, we are out-casting them, which leads to a mindset of them being lesser people - less deserving of respect somehow... and that leads to a culture where people feel it's then okay to objectify them, where society feels it’s okay to see their body as public property if they choose to display their sexuality outside. Sexuality can be celebrated, the human body can be celebrated without leading to objectification – but this sex negativity is so ingrained within us that it’s hard to break free from.

As a society we then tend to break apart people in our minds that display sexual qualities. We are sexual creatures, it’s how we reproduce and it’s a fundamental part of human life. We want to feel attractive, want to feel desired, and that isn't inherently wrong. You can be a sexual person, a desirable person, a person who wants to have sex and be intelligent and have a thousand other varying qualities. Shaming sexuality means that anyone who exhibits qualities which show they're a sexual person is then deemed as unworthy, and unrespectable - we then start to break that person down - because they exhibit their sexuality in public we think "oh that person can't want anything else OTHER than sex" - and that is what then leads to the idea that sex is all there is to that person, all that person has to offer, and all that person wants. We stamp public property on them.

Arrives the sex positive movement! Society needs to realise that everyone thinks of sex in different ways; there isn't one way it should be done or one type of sex that is good for everyone - and there is nothing wrong with wanting sex and attention, this acceptance that everyone is different is the way to beat objectify. What others do with their sex lives shouldn’t matter. It’s their body, their life, their rules.

In walks SlutWalk...
(Please click the see more link below for the rest...)

SlutWalk.

For those who don’t know, I’ve been getting myself involved with the SlutWalk Protest! I will write a separate post about that in itself, this is one really just to tell you all how amazing I’ve found it. I began debating with people on the event wall... and seriously, who knew I was good at debating?! Suddenly I found people started thanking me... and then suddenly I was getting asked to be interviewed/be in debates from the BBC and a certain newspaper! (Will tell you about that when I see whether the article is positive or not ;D)

I cannot explain how amazing it is to help with something where I feel like I'm making even the smallest difference. Comments from people thanking me for good debates, saying I've "enlightened" them, that I'm "incredibly learnt when it comes to this subject" and that I've "edified" someone quite considerably... people telling me I'm smart and have a wise head on my shoulders... it honestly feels like I've blossomed in the wake of this protest. It's crazy! I'm so glad to help the cause. I really love debating with people, and when they start to see new perspectives. It's like educating people. I feel all my hippie-esque-sex positive-liberal-freedom kinds of thoughts are finally paying off. I always felt incredibly lonely with them before. This is one of the most rewarding things I've ever really done in my life.



The woman who interviewed me today asked me whether I thought that the women of my generation found wearing "sluttyish" clothing liberating... and I said that liberation is completely down to the individual. What is liberating for one isn't for another, which is why freedom and choice are so important, and why it's important to try and not define liberation in terms of your own views, to tell someone what they're doing is not liberating is just oppressing them, because who are we to say what someone else finds liberating?

SlutWalk is about choice, freedom... a direct attack on slut-shaming, victim-blaming and on words such as slut; only ever used to abuse, dehumanize and demoralise a woman for her perceived sexuality; to attack these words and render them meaningless by showing collectively that a "slut" is a myth, and one that is not only damaging to women everywhere, of all sexual persuasions, but one that lets society ignore the real causes of rape and sweep them under the carpet.

I'll hold the rest of my speech for a separate post ;D