By the time I discovered Slutwalk Chicago on Facebook, many of my friends were on their event page—so I started paying attention. I read about the history of Slutwalk, which began in Spring 2011 in Toronto, Canada, in response to a representative of the Toronto Police: “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized”.  

In a period of months, Slutwalk Toronto became a focal point of an international feminist movement, with Slutwalk marches finished or planned all over Canada, in 43 US cities, and in 10 other countries. Slutwalk Chicago took place on Saturday, June 4, 2011 in downtown Chicago with opening and closing programs framing a march attended by hundreds of people. At the close, Yasmin Nair gave a powerful speech in which she linked Slutwalk to racial politics, the criminal justice system, and class privilege.

I ran into a local activist/cultural worker who is also in her early 40s. After agreeing  that we were considerably older than most of the Slutwalkers, she noted that some of the messaging was problematic. I replied, “there may indeed be problematic messaging, but when’s the last time you saw hundreds of people in downtown Chicago marching for women’s rights?” She said, “in the 90s,” and I said, “I rest my case.”

In Today’s Chicago Woman, Cassandra Gaddo writes, “The ‘reclamation’ of the word slut that so many young women in this movement have embraced is, I believe, more a tongue-in-cheek rebellion against the labels placed on women than an actual reflection of these women's sexual choices. ‘You want to call me a slut? Fine, call me a slut,’ they're saying. But then, let's move on and talk about the real issue here: rapists.” The overwhelming majority of the signs of Slutwalk Chicago were addressing the (enduring) reality of rape and other forms of sexual violence. The slogans were decidedly feminist and sex-positive. In my observation, the reclamation of “slut” was perhaps best represented in the theatricality of costuming within the march, a playfulness I wholeheartedly support in our social movements.

Whatever the complicated messaging of Slutwalk, it has succeeded in galvanizing a generation of young activists, and now frankly I think it’s time for us to listen, pay attention to what they are trying to say, engage them in lively and loving critique, and support their work.