Guest speaker and former NFL Quarterback Don McPherson talks with students Monday afternoon in the Union Ballroom about the importance of language and sexual violence prevention in the annual “Slut Walk.”
Monday night 50 men and women gathered in the Wyoming Union ballroom to hear guest speaker Don McPherson and to march for victims’ right at the Slut Walk.
“We raise women to survive in a rape culture,” McPherson said, a self-proclaimed feminist who has reached more than one million people across the nation.
Women should not have to carry around pepper spray, rape whistles or, in some cases, even stun guns. Women should not have to be responsible for protecting themselves against rapists and other abusers, he said.
McPherson talked about what he calls the “Semantics of Sexism” where men are removed from the situation of a rape or domestic violence crime and the victims are labeled and blamed for the perpetrators’ actions.
McPherson’s example was “Jack beats Jill” turns into “Jill was beaten” and, finally, “Jill is a battered woman.”
“We do everything to help Jill in the aftermath of Jack’s behavior as opposed to dealing with Jack’s behavior before things happen,” McPherson said.
Jules Arthur, STOP Violence Program Coordinator, started the Slut Walk at UW last year.
“What we walk for today is to establish a unified statement that demands respect for all and the elimination of victim blaming,” Arthur said at Monday’s second annual walk.
The slut walk is not only about women. In fact, one of the main focuses of the walk is on men. Because men are looked upon as the bad guy, the concept of feminism is one that remains silent.
Since the majority of men are not rapists, many feel that they are personally bashed when talks of rape or domestic violence come up. Central to this idea is the fact that as a society we do not raise boys to be men, we raise boys not to be women.
In order to move forward and in order to stop violence and rape crimes, this viewpoint needs to be changed. Once all men see women as equal, crimes dealing with domestic abuse and rape will be things of the past.
After McPherson’s speech, women and men alike at the event took to the streets. With umbrellas in hand, chants like “One, two, three, four, we won’t take it anymore! Five, six, seven, eight, no more violence! No more hate!” and “Two, four, six, eight. Women are sexual and sluts are great” could be heard all across campus.
McPherson spoke in hopes that this conflict would be approached in the future by all who attended.
“Don’t let it just be about tonight,” he said, “Continue this conversation.”
In order to take the blame off of the victim we must continue talking about these unfortunate crimes, look past the formal views of men and women and see each other for what we are: equal.
