Women’s rights walk spurs local discussion

There were marchers in lingerie, a sign proclaiming “Jesus loves sluts,”and women and men proclaiming themselves sluts to loud cheers.But the most revolutionary moment during the recent SlutWalk Boston for organizer Siobhan Connors of Lynn was when it started raining.”We had to shut off the sound equipment because it was thundering and everybody crowded around under the gazebo,” Connors, a 20-year-old explained. “It gave a very intimate feeling of community especially when women were talking about being impacted by sexual assault.”The Boston SlutWalk was inspired by a similar event in Toronto held in April after a police representative told a group of students at York University that women could avoid sexual assault by not dressing like “sluts.” Organizers at that and similar rallies that have occurred, or are scheduled to occur, internationally in order to protest a culture that “blames-the-victim” for sexual assault and to re-appropriate the word “slut.” The officer was disciplined but not fired, according to media reports.Women interviewed about the event all expressed both unequivocal support for the SlutWalk’s mission and also emphasized that a woman’s wardrobe never ever justifies a rape or sexual assault.But opinions were more nuanced on whether a SlutWalk was the most effective way to bring attention to these issues and, in particular, whether reclaiming the word ?slut’ was possible or even desirable.”Nobody can put a definite qualification on what it means to be a slut,” Connors said. “I think it’s basically any type of behavior that’s outside the box, whether sleeping with a bunch of people, or talking to a bunch of people.”Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization of Women, said that whatever it was intended to describe, the word was still a powerful insult.”Slut is one of those words like queer that is used in middle school and high schools to shame girls; it does pack a punch as an insult,” O’Neill said. “Especially for young women, I think that reclaiming the word is a wonderful thing to do.”Middle School Nurse and Swampscott School Committee Member Marianne Speranza Hartmann agreed that the provocative name was great way to draw attention to the issues.But she wasn’t sure whether a “SlutWalk” best educated girls about the issue.”I think it’s great that they are standing up for it,” Speranza Hartmann said. “But I don’t know if the names are the best way to go about it, because I don’t know if everybody understood what (the marchers) were doing.”Whitney Smith, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the nonprofit Girls for a Change, agreed that the word slut was everywhere. But that ubiquity made the girls with whom she worked either dismiss the word or be skeptical about it.”Girls in middle school and high school are very smart, and are much more savvy about gender and stereotypes and biases than I was at that age,” Smith said. “I think a girl (seeing the event) would say either ?what’s that?’ and do the research or just chalk it off as another instance where they have heard the word slut said,” she said.Nevertheless, she acknowledged that this endless barrage of negative images can cause girls to internalize these messages, especially in a culture that can “celebrate women who objectify themselves,” and send confusing messages to young women.Leslie Gould, president and chief executive officer of the Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce, said she reminds young women whom she advises on business skills to consider the context of their clothing.”I think a clean look is what is safe in a professional setting n but again that’s all up for interpretation,” Gould noted. “Hooters has one dress code, a bank has another. We as women are feminine, and I think there are lines that can be crossed (in a business setting)?somebody can always object to something, but that never condones rape. Rape is rape. That is unconscionable.”State Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein, D-Revere, said that messages can be especially confusing in a