Jamie Porter
Stephanie Brown
ENGL 306
September 12,
2016
The Protest of the SlutWalk
In the world today, there is a
nationally recognized way of thinking that affects the entire population,
especially women. This phenomenon is rape culture. Rape culture covers a broad
range of ideas regarding gender and sexuality, not limited to the discussion of
the action of rape in general. It is demonstrated through media and popular
opinions, and continues to plague the minds of people. Rape culture causes
violence, stereotypes, and danger towards all women. Many individuals are
becoming aware of this troublesome mindset that is deeply engraved into the
foundation of society, and are choosing to do something to stop it. One of
these protests is the SlutWalk, in which thousands of men and women join
together with their signs and stories to protest against rape culture. The
SlutWalk attempts to bring the public to attention of what rape culture is and
to put an end to it. The creators of the SlutWalk desire to end rape culture,
unifying women through stories and facts displayed on posters that elicit
emotional and logical responses, encouraging people to stand up against rape
culture.
The SlutWalk was created in 2011
following an ignorant comment made by Toronto’s police constable Michael
Sanguinetti, when speaking to a group of students at Osgoode Hall Law School.
While addressing the topic of rape, he suggested that in order for woman to not
be raped they should “avoid dressing like sluts.” This comment is unfortunately
common when it comes to rape cases, following a familiar trend of “victim
blaming,” in which the victim is accused of causing the rape rather than it
being directly the rapist’s fault. In response, Heather Jarvis and Sonya
Barnett created the SlutWalk. Thousands of people came to show their support,
protesting against rape culture and victim blaming. Today, there are rapidly
appearing SlutWalks all over the world. Though there have been many SlutWalks
taking place all over the world, the intended audience remains the same.
The purpose of the SlutWalk is to
end rape culture, and therefore end victim blaming through educating the
public, while at the same time unify those who have been affected daily by rape
culture. The signs and clothing – or perhaps, lack of - that is worn by the
participants paint the pictures of what rape culture does, and who is affects.
It is also providing a unified group of women affected, allowing those who have
been raped or even have been fearful of being raped to have a group of people
to identify with. They are able to know that they are not along. The creators
of the SlutWalk, Jarvis and Barnett, are trying to make a serious change in
society.
The audience that is targeted by the
SlutWalk is everyone who has been affected by rape culture. This may include
those who are affected directly, are unknowingly taking part in rape culture,
or who promote it. The largest drive behind the SlutWalk is to educate people
to the situation. Many people participate in rape culture without understanding
what they are doing is wrong. This includes the Toronto police constable
Sanguinetti, who believe are helping the situation while only adding to it. It
also presents the dangers of rape culture to those who continue to take part in
it even knowing all that it includes. The messages displayed on the signs speak
directly to these people who stubbornly refuse to change their ways. The final
audience of the SlutWalk is the women who have been affected by rape culture.
The SlutWalk has the effect of unifying these women in their shared
experiences, reminding them that they are not alone. An identity of women who
have been affected by rape culture is created through the SlutWalk.
Rape can happen to everyone, regardless
of gender. However, there is a higher probability that a woman will be raped
compared to a man. Because of this, the SlutWalk joins together an identity of
women as a whole. For a woman, there is almost always the chance that someone
might assault them, whether it be by a stranger or by someone they know. 1 in 4
college women will be raped – which is a truly terrifying statistic. Even those
who have not been affected directly are still plagued by the mere knowledge
that something similar to that could happen to them. This troubling mindset
causes women to be unified as a whole, and this group of people targeted by the
SlutWalk.
In order to strive towards its purpose of
ending rape culture, the SlutWalk uses all three rhetorical strategies. One of
the strongest used strategies is pathos, in which protestors rely of emotional
persuasion. With a subject such as rape, it is not surprising that people would
have a very emotional response to it. Protestors elicit emotional responses
through the signs they hold and the clothing that they wear. Many women chose
to participate in the SlutWalk nearly naked, some appearing in lingerie or
shirtless. People have emotional reactions to this type of appearance, and even
more so when reading the signs in which they hold that explain their choices.
Many hold signs reading: “Still not asking for it.” This is in reference to
victim blaming, in which many people suppose that the reason women are raped is
because of the revealing outfits they wore. Another way in which protestors
appeal to emotions is through the stories that they share through the signs.
Many woman participating in the SlutWalk have been through sexual assaults.
They share these experiences with the world in way of signs, showing their
first hand experience. Seeing these stories can cause people to have emotional
responses to the SlutWalk in general, desiring to have a change in society once
they see the ridiculousness of all of it.
Logos is also used throughout the SlutWalk strengthen the protest. All
of the signs that they are holding scream about the ridiculousness of rape
culture, and pointing out the fallacies present in the rape culture mindset.
The stories that are told and the language used begs the obvious question of why has nothing been done to change this
yet? The SlutWalk is in large part meant to educate people. The public is
educated extremely logically, through the stories that are told and the key
points made throughout the walk. Ethos is also used throughout the SlutWalk. A
large portion of the women present during the SlutWalk has been raped, or has
known someone that was raped. Their individual story gives them authority when
talking about such things as rape, rape culture, and sexual abuse. These very
powerful rhetorical strategies allow the SlutWalk to be extremely successful.
The SlutWalk is an extremely influential
movement, working to educate society on the dangers of rape culture and strive
to end it. With every SlutWalk that appears across the world, thousands of men
and women are able to join together to protest sexual abuse. Women as a group
are unified through this protest movement, joined by the identity that the
SlutWalk creates
As
of today, this protest has been successful, though not necessary in the best
way possible. More people are becoming aware of rape culture in society and
about victim blaming, but it has not spurred a massive change yet. However,
SlutWalks continue to grow in popularity, which demonstrates peoples increasing
understanding of rape culture.
Works Cited
"SlutWalk."
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2016.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SlutWalk>.
Stampler,
Laura. "SlutWalks Sweep The Nation." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 15
Sept. 2016. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/20/slutwalk-united-states- city_n_851725.html>.
"The
History." The Amber Rose SlutWalk. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2016.
<http://amberroseslutwalk.com/the-history/>.
Awesome and interesting choice in topic! Your introductory paragraph really sets up what the slut walk is intending to achieve, and is perfectly followed by the context of what the slutwalk actually is. Purpose and audience are clearly identified and discussed in a structured way, which I think is needed for the overall success of this paper. I really enjoyed how you discussed how the protestors address the fallacies used in rape culture, and I really think that could potentially be made into it’s own section. What are the logical fallacies presented within rape culture that the slutwalk attempts at debunking? This could add some bulk to your discussion, and some power to your argument in saying that the slutwalk has been very successful. How is slutwalk successful? Has there been any legislative changes? I think it’s important to point out that many people now know about slut walk (Amber Rose has her own now!), and in that sense they have been successful, but rape culture still exists (the Brock Turner case). Addressing these things maybe not seem to make your argument stronger, but it will because you are addressing the questions the reader may have if they are already informed of this topic. I think addressing how the slutwalk has been successful, and discussing how the movement still has a long way to go will really add some power to your paper. The organization of this paper is very strong, and your view is strong as well. I think just addressing the possible questions of the reader in the concluding couple paragraphs would really strengthen your argument. I really enjoyed reading this, especially since it’s something I’m interested in as well! Awesome work!
ReplyDeleteI do not mean to be rude or anything and I know she told us not to worry about it but there were so many grammatical errors it made it hard to read. You do speak a lot on who it is affected by rape culture and who is standing up but I would also like to hear more of the other side. I want to know who or what the other side is using that might be hindering the slutwalk. I feel like you gave a decent amount of context. You mentioned the most likely time it started, what their goals are and how they are fighting for those goals. I don’t think you respect the “male” much. Just because it mostly happens to women you seemed to ignore the men almost completely. I do not know enough about slut walk to know what progress there is. You say there is some, maybe you can go in deeper with more information on some of the victories or accomplishments there is said to be seen. I think you grasp the ideas between logos, ethos and pathos. Of course you use the word “signs” in their descriptions. If the signs are this important maybe you could choose some more titles of these signs in your paper to get a better idea of what they are using to express themselves. The only one you mentioned may not be the best because not everyone may even know what that one means. “Still not asking for it.” I got some basic information from this but I do not know if much of it was already basic knowledge. Maybe if possible more information the average person did not know that would make your argument stronger, perhaps some statistics. Instead of just saying they were raped, you could inform us how often or how many have been raped. Finally, for revision, when you are talking about ethos, logos and pathos you may want to break that paragraph up into maybe three parts.
ReplyDeleteJamie:
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I liked how concise you were with defining rape culture: it was informative and detailed, but not redundant. The last second of your first paragraph seemed to be your thesis in which you explained the author’s purpose and exactly what rhetorical strategies used. I see that you have spent a large chunk of your paper on identifying the audience; the second half of the third paragraph and the fourth paragraph could be merged together into a more concise statement on the intended and the non-intended audience. I was also a bit confused on this statement, “They are able to know that they are not along” in the third paragraph. The paragraph that starts with “Rape can happen to everyone, regardless of gender” seems a bit out of place – it has great statistics so maybe a better location for this, could be with your logos analysis. I think that your topic sentences and ending sentences are complementary of one another (so that is great!); however, the paragraphs themselves could be cut into multiple chunks. For example, the paragraph on the rhetorical strategies is lengthy – perhaps pathos could be its own paragraph and you could to even greater detail on this. For your ethos argument, I would consider adding a more emotional element to the author’s legitimacy - talking about the significance of women being victims of rape themselves, healing from the emotional wounds by standing up for change, and leading for progress in society’s view of rape culture. You say that “the SlutWalk is an extremely influential movement” but that is a very broad claim. How exactly? To what extent? I think that your conclusion could be a bit stronger! Reiterate on the author’s purpose and perhaps on the extent of success and impact that SlutWalks have had on rape culture. All in all, great work and nice analysis on the rhetoric of protest! It was pleasure reading your paper!
Revision plan:
ReplyDelete• Add citations and more concrete examples/evidence about the SlutWalk to support my claims.
o Statistics
o Examples of the signs
o Description of costumes
• Make the general statements more specific.
• In the conclusion, restate the purpose of the SlutWalk and the impact that it has.
• Make ethos, pathos, and logos their own paragraphs.
• Add a better definition of rape culture in general.