Slutwalk London 2011: full photo report!

On Saturday I went to the London Slutwalk with a few Nottingham feminists.  I had such a wonderful time; it was probably the best feminist events I’ve ever been to!  The Nottingham slutwalkers held a crafternoon earlier in the week, where they made the following wonderful placards:

The Nottingham placards. Mine read: "I say YES a lot, but respect my NO!"

Fran & Stuart with their excellent placards

There were some incredibly inventive banners, signs, and costumes – some serious ones, and some silly ones:

"HOW TO PREVENT RAPE: 1. Don't rape anyone, 2. See above"

"still not brave enough to go to the police"

"don't touch my lady garden!"

"are they asking for it too?"

"rape culture can suck my left one"

"check out my magic anti-rape jeans!"

"this virgin/whore dichotomy is getting pretty fucking old" / "my dress is not a yes"

What amazed me the most was the diversity of people marching!  As well as young women, there were loads of men with awesome banners and costumes:

"respectful men are better in bed" / "love sex hate rape"

Ms and Mr Slut.

Elderly people:

Disabled people:

A dog in a basque (which I sadly couldn’t find a photo of! if you have a photo, let me know in the comments and I’ll link it!)

Cross-dressers:

"no = no"

And some ridiculous fancy-dress:

I also met the lovely people from feminist blog Bad Reputation, who had a great banner:

"my hemline =/= consent"

After a tiring 2-hour march in the sun, all 3000 of us poured into Trafalgar Square for the rally.  It was uncomfortably hot – damn you BBC weather for telling me to prepare for rain! I was melting in my black slut outfit!  But despite my discomfort, the rally was incredibly inspiring, and seeing the sheer volume of protesters gathered together was an amazing feeling.

A little while later, we were interrupted by a naked bike ride. London is amazing.

Here are some more posts about Slutwalk that are better than mine:

Political Scrapbook: The Ten Best Signs from the Slutwalk - http://bit.ly/jMO9i

Lesbilicious: Slutwalk London June 2011, An Eyewitness Account - http://www.lesbilicious.co.uk/campaigns-politics/slutwalk-london-june-2011-an-eyewitness-account/

HarpyMarx: London Slutwalk - http://harpymarx.wordpress.com/2011/06/11/london-slutwalk/

Urban 75: London Slutwalk 2011 - http://www.urban75.org/blog/london-slutwalk-2011-full-photo-report/

Free single download: Gimme A Cure!

The free single has arriveddddddddddd!  This is waaaay overdue, but as mentioned before, Hank is so ridiculously busy that he’s barely had time to do anything else.

You can download Gimme a Cure FOR FREE at http://catherineelms.bandcamp.com/ – go do it now, and spread the word!  I’ve set up a “name your price” option, so you can donate as much or as little as you want to help me fund the recording of the rest of the album.  I own the copyright to the song, so if you guys want to make copies of the song or broadcast the song publicly (e.g. online) please get in touch first – I won’t say no, but I just need to know!  Don’t break the law, chaps – if in doubt, just gimme an email or a message on Twitter.  More on copyright here.

Gimme a Cure is the newest song of the whole album, written in its entirety last summer.  Here I grapple with issues of the male gaze, wanting to be wanted without knowing why, and feelings of insecurity.  This is the song I never thought anyone would like.  It makes me sad when I hear it, because these used to be very powerful emotions for me, and sometimes still are, although recently I’m much more emotionally grounded than I’ve ever been.

(It’s a grower… give it a few listens before judging it!)

Next week the second song of the free single will be up for download: I Miss You!

In other news, I’ve donated a pile of my zines and EPs to Hadass Ben-Ari, editor of Israel-based feminist zine Fallopian Falafel, for the grrrlVIRUS sale “Crafts for a Cause“.  All proceeds will be donated to the Jerusalem Rape Crisis Center.  If you’re interested in donating, get in touch with Hadass at fallopian_falafelATgmailDOTcom!