a case of emPHASis on the wrong sylLABle

 

As a female who is adamant that sexual violence is never the fault of the victim, may I just raise a frustrated eyebrow at the “SlutWalk” movement? (Read about the now “global” effort here) A picture on CNN shows an intense young woman holding a sign that reads “We’re taking SLUT back.” Taking slut back? It is the tendency of abusers and rapists to dehumanize people. This term is just one way of dismissing somebody’s humanity to characterize them as problems. Since when was “slut” ever “our” term?

Sorry, John: It's not exactly a rant.

Any time a privileged group claims a moral right to that privilege, it raises questions. I remember a mission trip to Peru. It turned out to be my last “mission trip” because of disillusionment surrounding the affair. At one point, the leader of the group said, “They’ll believe you, because you’re American.” This was to be used to evangelize, get out of scrapes, whatever (scrapes? I was raised reading Hardy Boys from the 60’s, folks). The worst of these, for me, was using a false prestige to “evangelize.” Every single one of us was white, in a country of brown. Why should our privileged position overrule their life experiences, free will, and freedom of choice? It perpetuated our agenda, our prerogative, and further devalued and demeaned the people we expected to value us based on our color and citizenship. Disgusting.

Free and Easy

 My mental life took a hiatus starting a couple weeks ago. The timing for starting this blog amuses me, now. I wrote to my friend John (at biblicalworld) a while back, and asked him if it ever stops feeling like your underwear is showing over the internet. Then, this career crisis came, and I found myself repeatedly telling the same story to more and more strangers, waiting for someone to decide if the story meant anything to anyone other than myself (me? I don’t know. I had some really lazy grammar teachers). Maybe the blog served to prepare me for that feeling. Not enough, though, not enough.

I just could not bring myself to more self-exposure. I haven’t even been able to look at the blog. So, I’m gonna try easing back in.