No “Slum” for Feminism Recent massive transnational protests named “SlumWalk” have marked a new form of rage from modern women’s right activists, stirring varied societal objections towards feminists. From a defiant display of a thousand women dressing in underwear and fishnets storming down the streets of Toronto, to public declarations from different well-known feminists stating they will never fight for the right to be called slums, the re-appropriation of the word “slum” has reinforced the misunderstood image of feminism as a solely sexually aggressive absurd circus, alienated feminists from their political allies and hindered the progress of other female rights agendas, such as equal pay for equal labor. What does …show more content…
“Slum” can still reverberate with derogatory attitudes, because, as long as sexism exists, there will be people using the word in a pejorative manner. For instance, men who hurl “You are screwed, because you are a slum” at a woman express their distaste of female promiscuity incredibly clearly. Then, in the eyes of the public, feminists’ proposal to actively encourage people to call women “slum” renders them complicit of this language abuse. People misunderstand feminists as unthoughtful, and, thus, are likely to stop supporting …show more content…
It is crucial to notice that the supporters of this movement are mostly white, middle-class, college-educated women (Blogando, “SlumWalk: A Stroll Through White Supremacy”). There is an open letter from black women to accuse the protesters of being unmindful, because the historically recurring violence against women of color deprives their privilege to be slums (bell hooks 113-128). The disidentification with feminists’ self-chosen identity as “slum” withdraws black women from this movement, and they are not the only ones giving up championing feminism for refusing to salvage an irredeemable term (Valenti