You dare not call me a slut!
Last Sunday, I read Seema Goswami’s perspective on Slutwalk in HT Brunch.
The crux of her story is that she thinks accepting ‘slut’ as a word is demeaning. Why should women call themselves sluts just to prove a point?
Secondly, she believes that though rape under any circumstances is not justifiable, you shouldn’t leave your door open and make it easy for a burglar to run amok.
The first part of the second argument has universal approval. The latter part is where the controversy lies. Let’s save that discussion for some other occasion.
I am told that women want to reclaim their right to dress the way they want to. So that no mean-minded moron ever calls a sexily dressed woman a ‘slut’ and gets away with it.
That’s where Slutwalk began as a campaign.
Now there are various arguments against Slutwalk – Why call it a derogatory name? Would it invite more perverts to indulge in visual pleasure? Will it actually change behaviour of men?…and so on.
But at the end of the day it’s a campaign. And most great campaigns serve only one objective at a time.
Slutwalk was never meant to and never will achieve the objective of changing men’s behaviour. It was only meant to tell men “Don’t call me a slut just because I dress sexily”.
The insult in this case is not due to the rapes that are committed everyday across the world.
The insult is due to the remark “You’ll invite trouble if you dress like a slut”. Slutwalk is a protest against that remark and the mentality that brings about such remarks.
And it’s doing its job brilliantly. Millions of people across the world are talking about it and writing about it.
The ultimate rebellion is when you do the exact opposite of what you are told.
Gandhi’s hugely successful Dandi march was along similar lines. The British said, “Don’t touch the salt unless you pay the salt tax”. Gandhi did the exact opposite with thousands supporting him.
So let’s not judge the rebellion that is Slutwalk by parameters like ‘It won’t change men’s behaviour’ OR ‘It will be detrimental to the cause because you are giving more men the chance to turn pervert’.
In a campaign to create talkability, provocation is your biggest weapon.
Slutwalk is only that. Brilliant provocation!
