Recommended Reading #65: SlutWalk
"SlutWalks and the future of feminism" by Jessica Valenti (Feminism, Activism) 6/3/11
Fresh from my own experience at SlutWalk Las Vegas (truly, I hope to blog about the Las Vegas trip soon), this piece reminds me of what I appreciated and found energizing about it as well as what I have appreciated about SlutWalk from the time I first heard about it. I found the observation and exploration in this piece interesting on the subjects of feminism, activism, and social change, and I feel Jessica outlines well what SlutWalk is about and what its potential significance to human society may be.
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SlutWalk NYC Frequently Asked Questions (Sociology, Psychology, Self-Awareness, Gender) 2011
The Frequently Asked Questions at SlutWalk NYC (occurring October 1, 2011) is one of the most comprehensive things I've seen about SlutWalk in addition to striking me as thoughtful, extensive, incisive, and relevant in the discussion around the things I understand SlutWalk to be about. (Thanks to Rachel Kramer Bussel for the link.)
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"SlutWalks v. Ho Strolls" at The Crunk Feminist Collective (Feminism, Race, Activism) 5/23/11
For perhaps the first time, I'm including in Recommended Reading a piece with which I don't know whether I feel full agreement. I do feel that I have heard of dissenting perspectives about SlutWalk, and while some of them I feel solidly that I a do not agree with (Gail Dines', et. al), perspectives about race and the word "slut" are an area where I have felt interested in the dissent and frankly do not feel fully informed or understanding. Thus, while I don't feel I necessarily agree with what is said in this post, that is largely because I do not feel in an informed enough position about what is being said to even know whether I agree with it or not. (There is no arguing that my experience in this lifetime has been white, privileged, and middle-class.) Basically, I appreciate the sincerity I sense in the presentation of this piece, and while I think I personally feel that SlutWalk is bigger than the word "slut" and thus does have far more universal implications than what I interpret as being raised or objected to here, the piece seems to offer a perspective I do find worthwhile to hear in a discussion and appreciation of SlutWalk and attendant perspectives and implications.
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