The IU Slut Walk liberated minds and condemned patriarchy

As a sea of bras, lingerie and toplessness marched down Kirkwood Avenue Thursday night, Shadia Siliman, a gender studies Ph.D. student, noticed two boys staring uncomfortably at the protesting women. In response, she took her “Sluts Unite” sign and pushed it as close to their faces as possible.

“The point of the march is to disrupt,” Shadia said. “It’s to make them feel uncomfortable.”

At another point during the march, Shadia said a mother with her young daughter observed the girls parading down the street. The mother motioned for one of the girls, who was carrying a sign displaying a naked woman, and asked her daughter to look at it. The mother proceeded to teach her daughter the importance of embracing your sexuality and never allowing someone else to take advantage of it.

These ideals are not only taught, but embraced at the fourth annual IU Feminist Student Association’s Slut Walk event.

Slut Walk is a national movement made up of protests, education and demands for an end to rape culture. When Toronto police officer Michael Sanguinetti suggested “women should avoid dressing like sluts” in order to not be sexually assaulted or raped, the Slut Walk movement began to teach women across the country that they don’t need to be shameful of their sexuality in order to avoid being victimized.

IU is no stranger to sexual violence this school year. Within Little 500 week alone, four sexual assaults were reported. One of these attacks involved a girl being held down by two men while a third one raped her in the middle of the street. At this point, Shadia said sexual violence at IU has unfortunately become almost normalized.

“I walk by the IDS every day and may see a headline like ‘Two girls raped on campus’ and just think ‘Oh, just another day,’” Shadia said.

On top of this, there has been the Alpha Tau Omega incident last semester, the Title IX case and a significantly high amount of sexual assault and rapes reported to IUPD – all within a single year.

IU junior and FSA director of activism Morgan Mohr said she wanted to combat these acts of violence and depravity in Slut Walk.

“We consider sexual assault to be a continuous problem, and it needs to be changed,” Morgan said.

These aforementioned events could provide even more motivation to participate in FSA events like Slut Walk and Take Back the Night, IU senior and FSA director of social affairs Megan Churchward said.

“It gives people a cause to rally around,” Megan said.

Shadia was a guest speaker at Slut Walk this year, where she criticized the crooked politics of women having to present themselves as practically sexless to the public eye.

This façade of sexlessness allows women to appear professional and therefore unthreatening to the patriarchy, Shadia said. She wants to challenge that mentality both socially and professionally by encouraging women to wear what makes them feel comfortable.

“Show off what makes you look unique,” Shadia said.

Along with Shadia, two other speakers addressed the crowd prior to the march itself. Middle Way House representative Evelyn Smith discussed the violence inflicted upon the transgender community, while IU professor Lisa Kwong discussed the harassment involved with the stereotypes of Asian sexuality.

Several booths were set up at the event before the march, as well.

At Slut Statements, victims and allies alike can write down their own experiences and thoughts regarding sexual violence.

Slut Trivia educated attendees on what exactly the term “slut” means, as well as how sexual assault can happen to anyone, anywhere.

Attendees could pose with protest signs with text that read statements like “Fuck You, Mike Pence,” “Consent ≠ Sexy, Consent = Mandatory” and “Swipe Left on Sexual Violence.”

Other booths were also set up to promote FSA and Middle Way.

While, as a member of FSA, Morgan said she supports the ideologies and concerns for women’s rights activists, she believes it’s even more important to get involved with organizations on campus that also support these beliefs, as well as attend events like Slut Walk and Take Back the Night.

“It’s not enough to condemn it and have opinions,” Morgan said. “You have to take these opinions you have and put them into action.”

Even more so, Shadia said she hopes women can learn from events like Slut Walk to proudly embody their sexualities and never, ever be discouraged by the patriarchy from expressing their individuality.

“I hope people can embrace their inner sluts,” Shadia said. “I hope people can be happy.”