We’ve all heard of the walk of the shame, or perhaps one of is other synonymous having names such as the “Death March” or the “hoe stroll”.
Regardless of the moniker, they all refer to a female’s walk back to her residence early in the morning after having spent the night out with a male. These terms purposefully aim to disgrace females and bestow guilt upon them. Very rarely are men charged with doing the “walk of shame”– instead men returning to their dorms after a night out are congratulated and celebrated by their peers. In fact a popular joke retorts that a guy doing the walk of shame is simply “skipping to breakfast”.
The term “walk of shame” is inarguably a subtle way of policing female sexual behavior and denies young women the rightful pursuit of sexual pleasure. However, as of recently, young women have been trying to remove the stigma from that early morning walk back to their dorms by renaming it the “victory lap” or a “stride of pride” arguing that in today’s society there should be no shame in spending the night and freely expressing your sexuality.
However, while such terms are certainly empowering and attempt to eradicate the stigma attached to the “walk of shame” these new terms can also be potentially problematic. Referring to it as something “victorious” and a source of “pride” still imposes public opinion on a private and personal moment and decision. Furthermore, and perhaps even more disconcerting, is that terms like these equate sexual conquests with triumph and in doing so ignore the host of women and men who choose not to engage in the hook up culture or wish to participate in it but are not granted full access to it. Instead of deeming that walk back home as disgraceful, victorious, triumphant or anything else maybe we should just call it what it is: walking back home.