On October 1st I attended the 2nd annual Amber Rose Slutwalk, and it completely changed my life.
What struck me most, as I walked into the crowd of women wearing minimal clothing and tutus, grabbed a balloon that read “eat a dick” and a handful of free condoms, was the message portrayed by the rally. This was unlike any message of feminism that I had ever received or viewed on social media in my life. Instead of focusing on minimizing the gap between inequality of men and women, the walk was structured primarily on eliminating body shaming and the overt sexualizing of women in the social stratosphere.
Amber Rose wants to shed light on the narrative that we as woman have all experienced from an early age. This narrative begins as a young a teenage girl not wanting to go on a date with a boy and being called, “prude.” It evolves into guys in college calling the girl that decides to date and have sex with multiple people a “slut” or “whore”. Derogatory names, are just few examples of the many cases of body shaming in society. Amber Rose strives to promote sexual equality among both men and women. I found the message of the walk to be extremely empowering especially as a woman in college who is beginning her professional life, and also juggling a packed social calendar.
The walk encourages women to take back the terms that have been used as hate words towards women in the past, and evolve them to make them our own. In particular, the words “slut” and “pussy”, which have been used negatively for years and reflect inaccurately on the nature of women. A sign making station was actively utilized by members of the walk, who took advantage of the colorful markers and poster materials to write personal and straightforward messages. Some of these messages included letters to the people who had sexually assaulted them, as well as examples of body shaming that they had experienced in their personal lives.
There was nothing more enriching than standing with thousands of fellow females, to recognize and bring attention to body shaming and slut shaming. I felt so incredibly lucky to be able to share this experience with some of my fellow sorority sisters, and other women and men in the Los Angeles Community. I highly recommend you check out this event next October, as it will be another unforgettable moment in the history of feminism!