Thursday, September 29, 2016

SlutWalk to End Rape Culture

Jamie Porter
Stephanie Brown
ENGL 306
September 12, 2016
SlutWalk to End Rape Culture
            There is a general way of thinking that affects the entire population, especially women. This phenomenon is rape culture. Emilie Buchwald, author of Transforming a Rape Culture, defines rape culture as “a complex set of beliefs that encourage male sexual aggression and supports violence against women… women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape itself. A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women as the norm” (Buchwald). Rape culture covers a broad range of ideas regarding gender and sexuality. It can be seen anywhere from violence against women depicted as normal on television shows to the simple option to rape that is available on video games such as Grand Theft Auto (Grandoni). Rape culture creates stereotypes and encourages violence towards 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. The SlutWalk is one of these protests, in which thousands of men and women join together with their signs and stories to protest against rape culture. The SlutWalk brings rape culture to attention for the public, bringing the facts into light so that there can be a stop 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 violence against women.
            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, 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. On April 3, 2011, 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, being found in Europe, Asia, and most major cities in the US (Stampler). Though many new SlutWalks appear across the globe, the purpose and 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 unifying those who are 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. From a SlutWalk in Toronto, a woman hold a bright pink sign stating, “I was wearing pants and a sweater was it my fault too?” (Figure 1) while a shirtless woman in Melbourne’s SlutWalk shouts while wielding a sign stating, “How I dress is not an invitation” (Figure 2). The stories that are implied through the signs and the lessons taught by the clothing worn by these women participating in the SlutWalk emphasize the need for change, inviting the public to understand an idea that is usually avoided. It also provides a unified group for women affected by rape culture, 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 and the organizers of SlutWalks around the world hope to help “women feel comfortable discussing sexual assault without fear of blame,” which is being achieved through educating the public and creating a unified group (Stampler).
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 of the situation. Many people participate in rape culture without understanding how what they are doing is wrong. This includes the Toronto police constable Sanguinetti, who believe they are helping the problem while only adding to it. Signs reading messages such as “Don’t tell me how to dress, tell them not to rape” addresses this particular audience (Figure 3). 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. Signs displaying messages such as “Survivors have been through enough” (Figure 6) have 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. In a recent survey by the Association of American Universities, it was found that 23% of women attending college are raped (Cantor). This roughly equates to 1 in 4 women. 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, as can be seen in Figures 2, 4, and 6. 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 messages such as: “Still not asking for it” (Figure 7). 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. From a SlutWalk held in Jerusalem, a woman held a sign stating, “How could I have been ‘asking for it’ when I didn’t even know what ‘it’ was at the time” (Figure 4). This sign implies the young age of the woman when she was raped, which promotes an emotional response. Many women 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 how terrible it truly is.
 Logos is also used throughout the SlutWalk strengthen the protest. The signs they hold scream of the absurdity of rape culture, 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? A woman participating in a SlutWalk in Toronto held a sign stating, “Society teaches ‘don’t get raped’ rather than ‘don’t rape’” (Figure 5). 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. Signs such as in Figure 6 and Figure 1 indicate that these individuals have been through harrowing rape experience. 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 influential to the public.
The SlutWalk is an 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. The purpose of the SlutWalk is to educate the public on rape culture and explain the dangers that it possesses. The success of this protest towards this purpose can be identified through the increasing amount of individuals that participate in SlutWalks around the world. This indicates that more people are becoming aware of rape culture in society and about victim blaming, and are choosing to speak out against it. The increased popularity of SlutWalks signifies an ever-growing change to the mindset of society.







Works Cited
By This Reasoning I Should Be Able to Dress as a Policeman and Not Be Asked for Help, or Be Naked and Not Be Called a Nudist. It's One Thing to Protest against Rape and Raise Awareness, It's Another to Be a Self-declared Slut and Make a Parade Celebrating. "The SlutWalk Is Coming To a City Near You." Return Of Kings. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2016. <http://www.returnofkings.com/7241/the-slutwalk-is-coming-to-a-city-near-you>.

"HuffPo Article about the Disturbing New Trend of GTA Players Raping Each Other." IGN Boards. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2016. <http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/huffpo-article-about-the-disturbing-new-trend-of-gta-players-raping-each-other.454167115/>.

N.p., n.d. Web. <http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/309178/at-jerusalem-slutwalk-women-protest-rape-and-victim-blaming/>.

"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/>.

WAVAW.ca. "What Is Rape Culture?" WAVAW Women Against Violence Against Women. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2016. <http://www.wavaw.ca/what-is-rape-culture/>.

"What Is the SlutWalk Movement?" - Quora. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2016. <https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-SlutWalk-movement>.

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