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A miniskirt is not consent

On June 4, 2011, Chicago women took over the Windy City’s streets for “Slutwalk Chicago.” Slutwalks are put together to destigmatize sexual violence against women and to enforce the notion that choice of clothing does not indicate consent.  | photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

On June 4, 2011, Chicago women took over the Windy City’s streets for “Slutwalk Chicago.” Slutwalks are put together to destigmatize sexual violence against women and to enforce the notion that choice of clothing does not indicate consent. | photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

This Saturday, Cherryhurst Park will be host to “Slutwalk Houston.” Don’t let the name distract you. A score of similar marches have been taking place all over the world since they first took place in Toronto this April. The first slutwalk was formed in response to a speech given to a group of female law school students by Toronto police officer Michael Sanguinetti. During the speech, Sanguinetti told the female students that if they wished to avoid sexual assault they “should stop dressing like sluts.”

Organizers of the original Toronto walk wrote on their website, slutwalktoronto.com, that they organized the event because “being assaulted isn’t about what you wear; it’s not even about sex; but using a pejorative term to rationalize inexcusable behavior creates an environment in which it’s okay to blame the victim.”

Slutwalks exist to bring attention to the victim-blaming misogyny that is still inherent in our culture. Rape is a violent crime, and what a woman wears has no relevance, nor does it in anyway excuse their victimization.

According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, 44 percent of rape victims in the US are under the age of 18, and 15 percent are under age of 12. Clearly, the state of dress or sexual appeal of a woman is not the issue. It is also worth asking what constable Sanguinetti thinks of men. How many male readers could confuse a miniskirt for consent? A minority, I am sure.

The reasons that sexual assaults are committed are varied and controversial. According to the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, sexually violent men are frequently diagnosed with a similar variety of personality disorders as other perpetrators of violent crime. Rape is a violent crime that has nothing to do with sexuality.

And, unfortunately, 15 out of 16 rapists never spend a single night in jail. This is largely because 60 percent of rapes and sexual assaults go unreported. These crimes go unreported because there are people in power, like constable Sanguinetti, who make rape victims feel as if the rape was their fault.

The slutwalk movement has drawn more attention than similar protests in the past. This is possibly attributable to slutwalk’s provocative title. Some feminists think that the word “slut” is so deeply intertwined with gender traditions as to make the word irredeemable. Others think that the redemption of such a word, and indeed such a concept, could strike a powerful blow against myths that tie women and girls’ self-esteem to their perceived purity.

Regardless of what we call this march, which has become the most successful feminist actions in 20 years, telling women to change how they dress is the wrong solution to the problem of sexual violence in this country.

9 Comments

  • According to our women's resource center director, Ms. Brooks needs to turn up her sensitivity meter. I'm not sure if she's heard – but a simple offensive statement is incitement to sexual assault. I can only imagine how many sexual assault are caused every year by the far more powerful communication of dress and body language.

    (For the intellectually uninitiated, the above is a satire of the position adopted by the Women's Resource Center Direct in an op-ed last week. I do not believe that any form of dress serves as justification for any kind of assault. I do believe that it's inappropriate for me to make this disclosure, but a brief perusal of the DC's comments section should demonstrate why it's being made).

  • "The girl says, 'Wait a minute! Just because I'm dressed this way does not make me a whore!' Which is true. Gentlemen, that is true. Just because they dress a certain way doesn't mean they are a certain way. Don't ever forget it. But ladies, you must understand that is ***** CONFUSING! It just is.
    Now that would be like me, Dave Chappelle the comedian, walking down the street in a cop uniform. Somebody might run up on me, saying, 'Oh, thank God. Officer, help us! Come on. They're over here. Help us!' 'OH-H0H!!! Just because I'm DRESSED this way does not make me a police officer!'
    All right, ladies, fine. You are not a whore. But you are wearing a whore's uniform."

  • women have come a long way when all it takes to set off protests is a cop giving some female lawyers practical advice about how to avoid being harassed.
    if he had told a bunch of hippie students to cut their hair and shave and maybe people would hire them, i doubt you would see an alternative lifestyle movement marching because someone blamed the long haired victims of a stereotyping society. they would say "yeah, our hair does make us look like freaks – we should probably just cut it" or they would say "i like my hair and they should change, not me." either way – it's nothing worth protesting about.
    protest about the billions spent on advertising to make women feel like they have to dress this way and the dating industry which encourages women to go get drunk and dance with a bunch of drunk guys in order to find someone. those are much bigger issues than some cop pointing out that dressing certain ways will give certain general results.

  • How is initiating violence against someone based on their looks ever okay? So rape is okay if you're raping a "whore," but only a real "whore"? Not just someone who looks like a "whore"?

    Justifying rape by saying "she was asking for it" is like justifying punching someone by saying "he was giving me a dirty look." Am I now allowed to punch a lady and steal her jewelry because she was wearing Gucci shoes? After all, she was asking for it too.

    Blaming women is a desperate cop-out for pathetic, childish men who are trying to rationalize the disgusting acts they have committed.

  • Women aren't asking for sexual assault when they dress provocatively, but they are asking for attention, from both sexes, and the attention received may not have been what they effectualized. If you wouldn't wear it in front of your dads to breakfast then you probably shouldn't wear it in public either, save it for the bedroom ladies. This is not to say that a woman isn't allowed to dress in such a way to feel good about herself, because we should, rather it is to ask ourselves what our intended reaction is from the opposite sex? Women, we can dress sexy, yet savvy, and not be seen as sluts; there is a line to be heeded though when considering how much to reveal when we get dressed and the message it conveys. Let's respect ourselves and others will follow suit.

  • It's interesting that no comments actually address the main point of her article, that rape is not about sex. They just arrested a guy who raped an 84 year old women in her bedroom. The point was that men don't rape women because of how they dress. A woman may be wearing any "uniform", that doesn't give license to assault and rape a woman. I could see the above arguments if women were fighting for the right to not be cat-called or propositioned, but that isn't the issue. The issue is violence.

    Mr. Ludwig, would you rape a women who showed too much cleavage?

    • During the speech, Sanguinetti told the female students that if they wished to avoid sexual assault they “should stop dressing like sluts.”

      sexual assault isn't necessarily rape. it can be a guy groping a woman. that is about sex.

      (i wish the author would show where the stats came from. i think you are supposed to.)

      a lot of women are into simulated rape too. that can make things doubly confusing, maybe the next article can be on how to choose a good safe word.

      would you grab a guy's penis if he was twirling it around like a propeller on the dance floor?

    • it didn't let me respond because i said sinep backwards in my last response. i guess there are 4th graders reading this.

      i don't get how someone having sex with an 84 year old, or a lot of younger kids being raped means it's about power and not sex? maybe there are people who are turned on by old people? have you ever looked at the porn that is out there? do people watch old people porn for power too, or is that sex?
      do people watch child porn for power?

      the guy was talking about sexual assault, which isn't necessarily rape – although the author seems to think it is. so until you can clear that up, a lot of the article doesn't really make sense.

      "These crimes go unreported because there are people in power, like constable Sanguinetti, who make rape victims feel as if the rape was their fault."
      From wiki (not the best source, but better than this paper):
      The most common reasons given by victims for not reporting rapes are the belief that it is a personal or private matter, and that they fear reprisal from the assailant.

      I could go on with the bad logic and shallowness of this article, but what's the point?

      would you grope a man's sinep if he was twirling it like a propeller on the dance floor? would you grab his butt if he was wearing a thong and shaking it at you? if so, then you might be a sexual assaulter.

  • Truthfully it is a fact that for rapist it's more about control rather than the woman's clothing. However I think at the same time women shouldn't make it any eaiser for any other guy to take advantage of them. Tbh, a woman shouldn't have to dress provactivley to get a guys attention. If a guy only cares about the your apperance he doesn't hold you in high esteem in the first place. Your dress and behavior give the first impression to anyone. Guys experience and interact with the world by using their eyes. So your dress might communicate a personality trait you dont have. All in all I get their point, but at the same time showing off to much skin can send the wrong message to a guy that's potentially harmful.

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