Ethnographic Review The “slut walk”

This study was conducted on October 22nd in Northampton, Massachusetts, during a time when social media was a significant part of society and was responsible for movements like the "slut walk." According to feminists, the campaign was a response to a police officer's anti-women remark (Reger, 2015 p.86). In response to the comment, which was seen as discriminating against women and their right to express and appreciate their sexuality, the LGBT community and feminists joined forces to stage a protest march through the city. The study's goal was to condemn what was referred to as slut shaming and sexual profiling. According to the feminists responsible for the establishment of the “slut walk” women had been demeaned by the statement of the officer and their sexual empowerment denied. Marching across the city in costumes believed to be slutty or in attire that represented women sexuality was a liberation movement that had to be undertaken to deliver women from a patriarchal approach to social issues (Hesse-Biber and Leavy, 2007 p.41). The “slut walk” was meant to celebrate sexual empowerment and protest against sexual violence perpetrated by men represented by the police officer in this case.

The investigation is conducted by a sociology professor who aims to understand aspects of modern feminism. His intrigue is sparked by the origin of the march considering it was a social media campaign that has developed into a mass movement for feminists in countries such as United States, Brazil, Australia, and India (Henry, 2005 p.211). The protests originate from Toronto Canada where a policeman addressing students at York University in Toronto argued that for women to avoid victimization they should not dress like “sluts”. The professor uses observation as their primary method of data collection employing fundamentals of auto-ethnography to study issues that emerge from modern day feminism as depicted by the “slut walk” march. The professor focuses on five different scenarios during the march and discovers how elements of ethnography such as generational divisions, sexuality and race influence contemporary feminism. All the five scenarios bring forth the changes that have come about over the years on how feminists approach social issues in a society that is reluctant to let go of its patriarchal view of social issues (Gerhard, 2001 p.24). The findings show that each generation of feminists has its own way of dealing with pressing society issues such as the “slut walk” march. Their investigation is a reflection of their time as part of a feminist movement. The investigator identifies with other feminists who were renowned in Northampton such as Sojourner Truth, Gloria Steinem and Sylvia Plath (Goodall, 2008 p. 55). They belong to another generation of feminists and their approach to issue is not similar to the current feminist. The present day feminist is audacious and they hold marches that trigger global reactions for instance the “slut walk”.

Northampton is an interesting city to hold the march since the ethnographer discovers that the city is known for its awareness on social issue that influence the world today. It is credited with organizing LGBT pride marches and being home to the voices of feminism verbal record collection (Meyer, 2007 p.10). The community has significantly imbalanced racial distribution which contributes to the relevance of the “slut walk” march. The population is mainly white, followed by a marginal number of Hispanic people, black and Asian people are the minority in the community. As such the sexual celebration march displays the diversity in opinion when it comes to black and white feminists. According to black feminists, the term “slut” is viewed as abusive and disrespectful to women. The organizers of the Toronto “slut walk” posted on their face-book page that the term slut had carried a negative depiction of women most of whom were considered promiscuous (Traister, 2011 p.1). The feminist community sort to change the predominately negative connotation of the term to include the black community considering that the term continues to be used as an abusive word to refer to women. The burden of the word “slut” from a negative point of view is immensely experienced in the black community as expressed by black feminists.

In summary, the study shows the diversity in ethnic demography and how the difference influences basic issues in society. The difference in opinion and approach to issues such as the “slut walk” march is propelled by the ethnicity of the feminists and their zeal to change the word “slut” from being used negatively to a sexually empowering tem. Another significant lesson from the study is that generational division is evident during the march and the feminists from the era of Sojourner Truth and those from the “slut walk” march are different in both their approach and issues they face as a community. The study shows that the “slut walk” march is a voice used by feminists to protests their discontent of a patriarchal society that demeans the significance of empowered sexuality.

























References

Gerhard, J. Desiring Revolution: Second-Wave Feminism and the Rewriting of American

Sexual Thought 1920 to 1982. New York: Columbia University Press 2001.

Goodall, Jr., H. L. Writing Qualitative Inquiry: Self, Stories and Academic Life. Walnut

Creek, CA: Left Coast Press 2008.

Hesse-Biber, S. N., and Leavy P. L.. Feminist Research Practice: A Primer. Thousand

Oaks, CA: Sage 2007.

Henry, A. “Solitary Sisterhood: Individualism Meets Collectivity in Feminism’s Third

Wave.” In Different Wavelengths: Studies of the Contemporary Women’s Movement, edited by J. Reger, 209–31. New York: Routledge 2005.

Meyer, D. S. The Politics of Protest: Social Movements in America. New York: Oxford

University Press 2007.

Traister, R, Ladies, We Have a Problem.New York Times July 20, 2011

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Reger, J, The Story of a Slut Walk1: Sexuality, Race, and Generational Divisions in

Contemporary Feminist Activism. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 2015, Vol. 44 N0.1 pp. 84 –112