A cluster of pre-teen girls on The College of New Jersey campus last Friday evening never heard the chants of the school’s second annual SlutWalk marchers. As a congregation of nearly 200 students and alumni approached the young ladies, their mothers quickly covered their ears, apparently protecting them from the mass recital of “I’m no slut, I’m no hoe, whatever you call me no means no!”
The girls’ mothers represent a very real distance society places between itself and open conversation about rape. Most people are uncomfortable with the subject, but in the words of Kelley Robinson, the assistant director of youth at Planned Parenthood, “Who gives a damn? We’re going to make some people uncomfortable sometimes!”
What SlutWalk marchers hope to make people understand is that rape culture, the generalized notion that rape is caused by the victim in some way, is something that needs to be addressed. By dressing in an array of clothing from crop tops, to sweatpants, to dresses, to handcuffs, attendees hope to provoke conversation, and even anger.
The choice of apparel at SlutWalks has caused controversy in some areas. While TCNJ marchers keep their outfits relatively mild, SlutWalk has been known to produce walkers who are nearly nude, particularly in cities. Many claim that such revealing articles are offensive, but SlutWalkers justify their choices with the chant “free our bodies, free our lives, we will not be victimized,” meaning that their bodies are their own to monitor, and nobody else’s.
SlutWalk was brought to TCNJ’s Women in Leadership and Learning organization by Amnesty International three years ago, and since then has grown in popularity. This year in addition to W.I.L.L., eight other student organizations co-sponsored the event.
“It’s important to be visible,” said Mary-Elizabeth Thompson, a returning protester who participated in the event last year.
But SlutWalk is about much more than sending the message “don’t rape.” “It’s about lifting up and celebrating our sexuality,” said Kelley Robinson, the assistant director of youth at Planned Parenthood, who spoke prior to the march.
Alongside Robinson’s conversation was the particularly memorable poem reading by Jennie Sekanics’. “Faceless, We Face This,” was Sekanics’ own piece about the sexual assault of her twelve-year-old sister, “the only girl in her grade who knows the word gynecologist.” The gathered marchers were enthralled by Sekanicks’ animated memories of the events and reactions surrounding her sister’s rape.
Her family’s expressions of “thank God she was just touched” and “have you looked in the mirror?” reflect the way that rape culture has “confiscated the value of women,” Sekanics said. These responses are exactly why SlutWalks exist.
Unfortunately, although SlutWalk had numerous newcomers this year, rape culture is still a problem to which many people simply do not lend their attention.
“We’re on the all girls’ floor. There are 60 of us and only eight of us are here,” said Kandyce Stukes, a TCNJ freshman. It goes to show that anti-rape culture activists have a long way to go.
“There are so many silences to be broken,” said Robinson, “it starts with each of us lifting our voices.”