The Slutwalk movement is based on the idea that women shouldn't be shamed and blamed for their bodies, their sexuality and their choice of clothing. I will be looking at how ideographs play into the word “slut” and how the Slutwalk movement worked to reclaim this word as something positive. The movement attempts to take back the word slut. It attempts to transform the word into something powerful and empowering rather than something that is meant to put someone down and make someone feel ashamed and guilty about their actions or their appearance. Ideographs are meant to have persuasion over a body or group of people. The word slut was used to persuade primarily women to be ashamed of their bodies in every way possible, werth that be sexualy or just in general. Part of the movement's goal was to change that.
As you can see in this sign the woman is proclaiming that “slut” is no longer a word that can be used against someone. Now the word can be claimed and stripped of it’s hurtful and degrading nature and discarded as a tool of oppression. “We’re taking SLUT back” is a jab at all the people that have ever used the word to hurt someone else. The tendency with a hateful word like this is to hide from it and never use it, but by writing it in big bright letters on big blatant signs and raising them up in a sea of people where the word is also written on their skin and their clothes it takes on a new meaning. It takes on a visual meaning as well that says, we aren’t going to sit back and take this kind of behavior from you anymore. Reversing the shame and putting it where it belongs, on those who put down others with their own judgement and for those who victim blame instead of blaming those who choose to hurt others.
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