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/

Female Undergraduates: A “perk” Of The Job?

Once again, in case I needed any more proof that sexism is far from eradicated in the UK, a blatant example of sexual discrimination reveals itself. This September, Dr Terence Kealey from the University of Buckingham wrote that female students were simply “perks” to be enjoyed by male academics. In a Times Higher Education magazine piece entitled The Seven Deadly Sins of the Academy, the vice-chancellor said of female undergraduates:
“There will be a girl in class who flashes her admiration… Enjoy her! She’s a perk.” He went on to write, “She will flaunt you her curves. Which you should admire daily to spice up your sex, nightly, with the wife”. He went on to compare universities to strip bars, saying, “As in Stringfellows, you should look but not touch.”

He also said with regard to sexual staff-student relationships that “the fault lies with the females”, and he seemed to complain about the “intrusive” agencies that outlawed the bartering of sex in exchange for good grades: “[T]he days are gone when a scholar could trade sex for upgrades.” Kealey never goes so far as to defend male academics who do have sex with students, but by placing the blame for pupil-teacher relationships with the female, he is reinforcing the same sexist, victim-blaming attitudes that we hear whenever a woman is sexually harassed or assaulted.

Dr Kealey’s comments provoked outrage in many people. A spokesman for the University and College Union said of the article: “Harassment is not something to be taken lightly” and the National Union of Students said it displayed an “astounding lack of respect for women“. This man attempts to completely subvert women’s struggles to gain a place in academic circles by dismissing our academic achievements and merits, which we did not achieve by flaunting our curves, but by simply working hard. As a female undergraduate, I know that we’re sometimes encouraged to see our beauty as a “perk” that we can use to our advantage, but I think most of us would prefer to get ahead by means of our intelligence. The idea that our only purpose in a lecture theatre is to look attractive is incredibly distressing, and one that completely disregards our intellectual integrity.

Unsurprisingly, Dr Kealey defended himself by claiming that the article was only meant to be “satirical”. This is absolutely not the case, and I find it very disturbing that such outrageous sexism can be so easily dismissed. This kind of thinly-veiled sexism as humor is something that one would not even accept from the jocular male undergraduate, let alone an older, respectable academic. His words are an enormous betrayal of female students across the UK, and I hope that Kealey is severely punished for these outdated and offensive views.

- C