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'Sluts' take to the streets


ozpharlap

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The Slutwalk movement is coming to Australia.

 

Women in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide are grabbing their fishnets, stilettos and leopard print to march for the right to wear what they like and behave how they want without harassment in four separate slut walks.

 

Notices for the latest slutwalks only went up on Facebook on Sunday, but more than 3500 people have already registered for the protest marches Australia-wide, including 2500 in Melbourne alone.

 

The Slutwalks started with one small protest march in Toronto on April 3, when women marched in defiance of a local policeman who told 10 college students that: "I've been told I'm not supposed to say this – however, women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimised."

 

Since then, slutwalking has gone global, with marches planned across North America and Europe.

 

Melbourne's Slutwalk will be on March 28, starting at the State Library in Swanston Street.

 

"You don't have to dress up, but I expect a lot of people will," says organiser Clem Bastow, who is also a critic at Fairfax sister site The Vine. Ms Bastow plans to dress up "as 1990s riot grrrl, with reclaimed words written on my arms ... I'm a big fan of dressing up in a sexy way."

 

With late May temperatures hovering in the low teens, Melbourne's slut walk participants will be glad to know they don't have to be skimpily attired.

 

"I'll be rugged up in scarf and beanie," says Lauren Clair, another one of the organisers. "People can come however they like."

 

Ms Clair is keen to reclaim the word "slut" as a source of pride, not shame. "I've spent my entire life being judged for my appearance and sexuality. I'm sexual, I have sex, I enjoy sex. I'm not going to be ashamed."

 

"Slut shaming" seems to be increasing, says Ms Clair, and that's why so many women are responding to the call. "Look at the AFL culture", she says. "When influential people like Spider Everett and Kerri-Anne Kennerley say girls get what they deserve, what kind of message does that send out?"

 

But some women who support the cause hate the word "slut" and don't want to embrace it, says feminist Karen Pickering, who is also working on the Melbourne walk.

 

"It's a word I avoid, and I bristle when other people use it," she says.

 

"Some people tell us they're resistant to participating under that name. I ended up saying it was about the right to not be called a slut. But I do think that the more we use it, the more we empty it of its connotations."

 

Sydney slutwalk organiser Samadhi Arktoi agrees: "a slut is someone who enjoys sex, not someone who it's OK to rape." The Sydney march is on Monday June 13, starting from King Street, Newtown. The Brisbane march on May 28 is being organised by the Australian Sex Party's Queensland branch. "I like to wear tops that show my cleavage and show off my ladies," says organiser Anne Watson. "If that makes me a slut, then I'm a slut."

 

What I don't understand is, why dress to be looked at and then get offended when someone looks, well, only someone they don't like looking at them, but hey, it is good for them to look at what they want to look at, such a vicious cycle :beer:

 

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[quote name=ozpharl

Sydney slutwalk organiser Samadhi Arktoi agrees: "a slut is someone who enjoys sex' date=' [/quote]

 

So this rules out married women? :nahnah:

 

I love sluts. I think they provide a vital public service. They do the 'heavy lifting' when the prissy, my pussy is the holy grail and should be treated as such women aren't trying to put out.

 

They also put pressure on these stuck up women. There should be a slut discount at every bar and club.

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And yet they still get plenty of 'action', am I right ? Just as I cant believe it when I see a Farang going back to his hotel with an extremely obvious Katoey (particularly alongside their Isaan sisters), I can never quite believe it when I see a shocker dragging some drunken loser out of a pub here in Oz. Sure, I've been one of those losers, but it gets old very quickly. ;)

 

Demon alcohol has so very much to answer for.

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