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To the editor:
Recently, there was a Slut Walk in Iowa City, arranged as a demonstration against sexual violence. The following letter was printed in our local paper, The Daily Iowan, which can be found here on their website, though I've taken the liberty of pasting the text below.
Cross your legs
What is the appropriate response to "slut shaming"? Is it "slut glorification" or "slut pride"? What does a group of scantily clad women gathering in a park sharing stories accomplish?
I challenge the female community of Iowa City to respond to the daily oppression of sexism and violence toward women in a proactive, non-reactionary manner. That is, I challenge the women of Iowa City to embrace a spirit of class, rather than "pride" in their "sexual liberation."
Let's have a look around us, women — how many of us are chomping on birth control like Tic-Tacs, and how many of us have shed life from our wombs with a defiant "Yes — this is my choice"?
Is this what "sexual liberation" looks like to us as individuals and as a community? Our grandmothers' wisdom would serve today's women well — sit like a lady with your legs crossed.
Jenell Nyberg
Iowa City resident
Here is my response (which I naturally don't know will be printed, but am putting here anyway).
In response to Jenel Nyberg's recent letter to the Daily Iowa, "Cross Your Legs".
An unfortunate reality that continues to exist in our world – the world of men and women alike – is exactly what Ms. Nyberg has described, "the daily oppression of sexism and violence against women". However, it's about more than how we dress, how we live, and how we choose. The attitude that a woman should be categorized as a whole being by her choices in dress or sexual lifestyle is the same kind of degradation, if on a lesser scale, as a man deciding he is entitled to take advantage of her body because of a similar value judgment. It continues to offload responsibility from the action of the offender by absolving one person's impulses with the implication that another tempted them. It sows shame and urges silence. This attitude perpetuates the oppression that surrounds us – actively and passively – every day.
In the picture of the Slut Walk featured prominently in the Daily Iowan, I saw girls in bras and hotpants shoulder to shoulder with girls in jeans and t-shirts. I guess that's all pretty slutty, depending on how far back a person would like to roll our definitions of 'classy' and 'ladylike'. However, I fondly hope that my generation's daughters will be able to feel safe dressing however they feel comfortable and beautiful without being shamed and violated by rape, harassment, or the ill-informed scrutiny of their lifestyle and healthcare choices.
I'm not going to sit with my legs crossed. I'm going to stand up, and I hope Ms. Nyberg and other women who share her point of view understand that I'm standing up for their rights, voices, and safety, as well.
This is so wrong, and so pervasive. Our grandmothers did a lot of great things, but we are so not done.
Cross your legs
What is the appropriate response to "slut shaming"? Is it "slut glorification" or "slut pride"? What does a group of scantily clad women gathering in a park sharing stories accomplish?
I challenge the female community of Iowa City to respond to the daily oppression of sexism and violence toward women in a proactive, non-reactionary manner. That is, I challenge the women of Iowa City to embrace a spirit of class, rather than "pride" in their "sexual liberation."
Let's have a look around us, women — how many of us are chomping on birth control like Tic-Tacs, and how many of us have shed life from our wombs with a defiant "Yes — this is my choice"?
Is this what "sexual liberation" looks like to us as individuals and as a community? Our grandmothers' wisdom would serve today's women well — sit like a lady with your legs crossed.
Jenell Nyberg
Iowa City resident
Here is my response (which I naturally don't know will be printed, but am putting here anyway).
In response to Jenel Nyberg's recent letter to the Daily Iowa, "Cross Your Legs".
An unfortunate reality that continues to exist in our world – the world of men and women alike – is exactly what Ms. Nyberg has described, "the daily oppression of sexism and violence against women". However, it's about more than how we dress, how we live, and how we choose. The attitude that a woman should be categorized as a whole being by her choices in dress or sexual lifestyle is the same kind of degradation, if on a lesser scale, as a man deciding he is entitled to take advantage of her body because of a similar value judgment. It continues to offload responsibility from the action of the offender by absolving one person's impulses with the implication that another tempted them. It sows shame and urges silence. This attitude perpetuates the oppression that surrounds us – actively and passively – every day.
In the picture of the Slut Walk featured prominently in the Daily Iowan, I saw girls in bras and hotpants shoulder to shoulder with girls in jeans and t-shirts. I guess that's all pretty slutty, depending on how far back a person would like to roll our definitions of 'classy' and 'ladylike'. However, I fondly hope that my generation's daughters will be able to feel safe dressing however they feel comfortable and beautiful without being shamed and violated by rape, harassment, or the ill-informed scrutiny of their lifestyle and healthcare choices.
I'm not going to sit with my legs crossed. I'm going to stand up, and I hope Ms. Nyberg and other women who share her point of view understand that I'm standing up for their rights, voices, and safety, as well.
This is so wrong, and so pervasive. Our grandmothers did a lot of great things, but we are so not done.
no subject
THE PILL, UR FUCKING DOING IT RONG.
Don't mind me, I'll be over here seething with incoherent rage.
I'm glad you went and did something about it; here's hoping the DI is smart enough to print it. (Though keep in mind that this is also the paper that frequently prints typos in its front page headlines. ~_~)
no subject
no subject