SlutWalk is part of a world-wide grassroots movement challenging rape culture, rampant sexual violence, victim-blaming and slut-shaming in our culture. SlutWalk has served as a tool for global feminist community building, an area of phenomenal progress in recent years. Unfortunately, the controversies surrounding the term “slut” are distracting from the point of working together to fight sexual violence, which is a shame and also indicative of the complexities, nuances, and challenges involved in inclusive feminist organizing as a whole. Attempting to reclaim the word “slut” as an empowering term and even a personal choice, is not translating into an inclusive feminist message with respect to race, class, identity and more. This is further articulated in the open letter from the leadership of Black Women’s Blueprint.
Paradigm Shift NYC has decided to stand in solidarity with Black Women’s Blueprint and all endorsing organizations by not having a banner presence at SlutWalk. That being said, we want to emphasize our support in the dismantling of rape culture by empowering all feminists to organize effectively within the movement.
Paradigm Shift supports the participation of all communities to create a safe space for all during SlutWalk. Our collective power lies in our willingness and ability to send an inclusive message with respect to race, class, gender, ability, sexual orientation, sexuality, age and beyond. Inclusive messaging is a decision making process that must include those who are marginalized. Take it upon yourself to use SlutWalk to express what empowers you – with or without claiming “slut”. It’s inspiring an explosion of dialog and action with regard to sexual violence, self expression, identity, power, privilege, sexuality, gender, race, class, and more- progress!
Sexual violence is a very personal and emotional issue, and we will invite and support this evolving dialog.
We want to hear from you- please post comments. If you prefer to email: meredith@paradigmshiftnyc.com
In Solidarity,
Meredith Villano
Co-Founder & Director, Paradigm Shift NYC
