Yes to Sluts!

I remember spending a cold night out with my girlfriend, having wine and trying to stay warm at an outdoor bar in town.  It was not bad at all, but we had dressed well with boots and jackets, scarfs and gloves, and were enjoying our night and stayed warm, having found a seat close to the fire pit.

But how much fun did we not have making fun of the ones just old enough to be there, dressed in short dresses barely covering their butts, spaghetti straps and strutting all they had trying to get attention from the men. We were laughing as they were shaking trying to hold on to their drinks and smiling with lips that had turned almost blue. Our joke for the night was that no man is worth pneumonia.  Pretty sure we labeled them desperate,  but I don't recall us thinking that they deserved to be treated worse by any means based on how they dressed.


However, some apparently still do.  In January of this year, Constable Michael Sanguinetti, a Toronto Police Officer, made the remarks that in order to avoid being victimized, "women should stop dressing like sluts. "

I am horrified to see that in 2011, in a modern, Western Country, some still have the attitude that women are responsible for not being victimized, rather than men being responsible for not committing rape. And a police officer nonetheless. "No" means "no".  I don't care if you are naked and in bed together. "No" means "no".

Luckily I'm far from the only one that finds this attitude ridiculous, and Mr. Sanguinetti's comments have sparked a now worldwide movement of women (and men) protesting the belief that any aspect of a woman's appearance can explain or excuse rape.  SlutWalk started in Toronto on April 3rd, and has since spread across Canada, the US, Europe, Australia and now to Mexico as well as some countries in Asia.  You can find a listing of past and upcoming events here.

And here is the video from the event in Toronto:

I think I have to pull out some super slutty clothing and join this one when they come to our town!  Put the responsibility back where it belongs!