My Dress Is Not A Yes

The Slutwalk

‘My dress is not a yes’!! Chanted the thousands at London’s Slutwalk. What is a Slutwalk, well, they are demonstrations to reclaim the word slut to prevent it being used against women as a derogatory term, and female reaction over how some idiots from the male of the species treat them.

What sparked this new wave of female demonstrations? A comment made by a Canadian police officer during a health and safety talk to students; ‘Avoid dressing like sluts’ he told them, and this will supposedly be enough to prevent victimisation and rape.

Since this one comment thousands of women across the globe have taken to the streets outraged that; women wearing skimpy clothing = the right for men to abuse them.

It is quite strange that in today’s society where women are bombarded with images of sex and sexy from every media outlet available, that when they then succumb to what the media peddle, the world soon retaliates against them.

I thought sex and sexy was not to be questioned by people. I thought these images weren’t classed as offensive or shocking now?! Aren’t half naked women the norm for our society?

Well, apparently these images of female ‘sexuality’ can be criticised, but only when it is convenient to excuse a heinous act of vile violence that a man perpetrates; rape. Women wearing skimpy outfits then quickly become a target, their clothing magically converted into some green light for wannabe rapists. After all if a woman dresses for sex, she must want sex, lots of it and from any ‘Tom, Dick, or Harry’. WRONG!

Yet, a woman dresses sexy or provocatively to attract male attention, and entice sexual desire; surely that cannot be denied, otherwise why else reveal more flesh? Not necessarily so. Women are notorious for dressing to impress other women actually; and no not because they are lesbians, but because they want other women to envy what they are wearing or how they look.

So, when some men see a woman out and about, and these men feel inclined to make a sweeping generalisation that ‘she has to be looking for sex’ or by wearing that oh so tight dress ‘she is asking for it’; consider this, that is your assumption based on faulty logic produced by your testes.

That idea of a woman and what she wants are stereotypes built up in those men’s minds, therefore not based on truth or fact. Rape should not be the by product of any woman’s wardrobe choice; that act has no justification, regardless of how short a woman wears her skirt.

Truth is a woman should be able to walk around naked if she chose to and never fear being raped by some men who cannot control their own mind or bodies. Question; if these men can’t control their own mind or bodies then why are they being allowed to wander the streets alone, without supervision?

Yet there will always be some men who will always argue that if a woman wears such and such, and goes out to a club, and is out after a certain time at night, and flirts and drinks alcohol and goes against her nature by wanting lots of sex with many different men; well, then that woman cannot expect anything less than being raped.

Yet this notion is a double standard based on bigotry and chauvinism. In society women are supposed to be sexually liberated, available and willing, yet, if they are then they are sluts, they deserve to be raped. Women may lust after men, have sex, want sex and enjoy sex, they might not want babies or marriage and maybe they drink more than a small Sherry at Christmas, but rape is still rape!

Maybe it is the skewed version of society branded and sold so well by the media, marketing and advertising executives to blame. After all men and women live in a world dominated by sexualised imagery, which are meant to entice, inspire, motivate and of course brain wash us all.

So, within the real world there also exists a make believe fantasy version where images of submissive, permissive, eager to please and sexually in need women permeate through to us all. These images included the naked, half naked and dressed sexily. Surely then these images (man made too usually) are the visions of lust that fuel some men’s minds and beliefs about women, women’s roles and what women want? Especially when women are then encouraged to emulate these false images too.

So, it is once again a case for objectification. Some men being manipulated to see women as objects, sex objects, just a body or even part of a body; but never as a person, not real, not human, not someone to identify with who is more than mere sexual parts and desires, more than merely their sex.

Maybe this objectification creates rape?

Or maybe rape is about power, domination and control? It is an attack, someone exerting themselves over another to harm and create submission. Being attacked creates fear, receives a reaction, puts the victim in their place and shows them who is ‘boss’. Is this what rape is?

Rape has no excuse, not one and there is NO negotiation on the word NO. There are no arguments that can OK rape in any society; it is never justified, never.

For me if a person cannot understand the sentiment behind the non-ambiguous, simple enough two lettered word that is NO, then you shouldn’t be even engaging in any type of sexual intimacy These people obviously have missed some fundamental learning process that most of get loud and clear; NO means and always has meant NO, and sex without consent is RAPE!!!!