Ironic Slut Shaming from the home of Slutwalk

[tropaka]

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article ... ult-victim

Summary, after a news conference held by Toronto police to warn of a sexual predator in an area of the city, the niece of our Mayor (and daughter of a councilor) fired off a tweet that said

“Stay alert, walk tall, carry mace, take self-defence classes & don’t dress like a whore,†Ford wrote on Twitter just after 6 p.m., adding hashtags “#DontBeAVictim†and “#StreetSmart.â€

Ironic because Ms. Ford was a participant in the "lingerie" league here in Toronto.

Fortunately, an actor/comedian who was the victim of this predator, wrote Ms. Ford and open letter, part of which reads:

“So, you’ve called me a whore,†Moran wrote to Ford. “Here we are. This is awkward now, isn’t it? You’re probably wondering if I’m going to challenge you on having been a member of Lingerie League. I’m not, because I’d never slut-shame another woman.

[Guest Anonymous]

'Stay alert, walk tall, carry mace, take self-defence classes...' Oh, it was going so well!

[crassy]

The apple did not fall far from the tree in that family. I am not even surprised that Ms Ford said those things, both her father and her uncle are idiots of the highest degree who often say the most ridiculous things.

Here's to hoping that Rob Ford is ousted from his position of mayor after Clayton Ruby gets a hold of him on Tuesday! If it happens, I propose we start calling that day Ruby Tuesday! :D

Still trying to find someone who admits to voting for Ford.

[bananacat]

The response to it just fantastic and I really admire that person's integrity.

[ElphabaGalinda]

I saw that. Guess she inherited the saying stupid things habit from her uncle and father. Apparently she apologized and said she just wanted to stay safe, or something. As if dressing a certain way is to stay safe. That open letter was awesome. And I'm glad none of the comments on articles are support Ms. Ford. This is unfortunately what people tend to expect from any relative of Rob Ford.

She also seemed to forget that mace is not legal here.

[crassy]

She also seemed to forget that mace is not legal here.

Not all that surprising...her uncle was photographed reading while driving on the Gardiner (and while not illegal to read and drive, I am sure if he had gotten into an accident they could have come up with some sort of dangerous driving), and had the idea to remove people with criminal records from the city. Methinks that logic, laws, and reality aren't really that important in the Ford family.

I lived in his Ward for a while, when he was really big on calling people to say hi. Ugh. I got out of there as soon as I good and moved to Red Paula's Ward 30. Gotta love a city councillor who used to be the leader of the Communist Party of Canada (and who has held her councillor position for nearly a decade!)

[deelaem]

And herein lies the problem with the whole Slutwalk movement. The word is never going to be reclaimed. People, that is, men and their handmaidens, will still use it to insult and control.

[Minerva]

I heard about this, but I didn't realize it was Toronto, and I didn't realize it was Rob Ford's niece. How is so much douchebaggery concentrated in one family?

[crassy]

I heard about this, but I didn't realize it was Toronto, and I didn't realize it was Rob Ford's niece. How is so much douchebaggery concentrated in one family?

I don't know but maybe we should be calling Jason Kenney to see if we can get the Ford family removed from Toronto. :D

[MissBeaufort]

And herein lies the problem with the whole Slutwalk movement. The word is never going to be reclaimed. People, that is, men and their handmaidens, will still use it to insult and control.

Can something technically even be "reclaimed" if it's never been positive? It could at least be argued that words like "gay" had a positive meaning as a word to start with (even if it had nothing to do with homosexuality), and then became an insult. Slut, though, has never been anything but a word used to derogate women.

I love the spirit of slutwalk and I was disappointed when I had to miss it. What's not to love about a movement that tries to fight the stupidity that keeps cropping up around this issue? Still, though, I'm not sure that I could proudly call myself a "slut". I wear my "sexually active woman" badge proudly, but "slut" just... It has so much history, and frankly, I don't think it's worth trying to rehabilitate. It's not that I find the idea behind sluttiness abhorrent, because if it just means women who have lots of sex (with - gasp - multiple people! Maybe other women! Before marriage! THE HORROR) then I'm all for that. But I hate the power that the word is given by those who use it to belittle women.

[crazyforkate]

I still have no idea how this boor got elected, because absolutely no one I know had anything good to say about him. Now we have to deal with his wretched family. He's like the Sarah Palin of Toronto, guys!

-proud participant of the first SlutWalk

[crassy]

I still have no idea how this boor got elected, because absolutely no one I know had anything good to say about him. Now we have to deal with his wretched family. He's like the Sarah Palin of Toronto, guys!

-proud participant of the first SlutWalk

I am on a quest to find someone who will admit to voting for him. Even my hard core right wing friends didn't vote for him! Either something fishy went on during the election or there are a lot of Torontonians not fessing up.

[CrazyCatLady]

My husband and i drove through a slut-walk in progress when we were vacationing in Vancouver for Canada day. My favorite sign was "I'm sexually available." I asked my husband if I should say that every time i'm in the mood...

[luckystone]

I saw someone going with the "you ask for it if you dress like a slut" (whatever that looks like) thing on facebook. Not a friend because then I would unfriend them, but we have one mutual friend. The guy is highly stupid, uneducated and just all round gross and very lower-class, but I really wanted to tell him off. I might make an anonymous account and message him. it makes me SO ANGRY

[browngrl]

Well that apple did not fall far from the tree. Ford is an idiot and his niece is just as bad. I don't care that she has apologized now. You know that that apology was a hollow one at best. The whole family irritates me. One positive thing - I have been a lackadaisical (?spelled wrong) voter regarding municipal elections but I think that this sort of laziness has contributed to Ford being in office. So the next election I am going to take a greater interest and a more active role.

[pomology]

Can something technically even be "reclaimed" if it's never been positive? It could at least be argued that words like "gay" had a positive meaning as a word to start with (even if it had nothing to do with homosexuality), and then became an insult. Slut, though, has never been anything but a word used to derogate women.

I love the spirit of slutwalk and I was disappointed when I had to miss it. What's not to love about a movement that tries to fight the stupidity that keeps cropping up around this issue? Still, though, I'm not sure that I could proudly call myself a "slut". I wear my "sexually active woman" badge proudly, but "slut" just... It has so much history, and frankly, I don't think it's worth trying to rehabilitate. It's not that I find the idea behind sluttiness abhorrent, because if it just means women who have lots of sex (with - gasp - multiple people! Maybe other women! Before marriage! THE HORROR) then I'm all for that. But I hate the power that the word is given by those who use it to belittle women.

Black people have reclaimed the n-word, which was never a positive word. Also, the g word queer has been reclaimed. It was never a positive word, even before it was used to mean gay, but now members of the LGBT community use the word queer all the time with no stigma. Even I use the word queer sometimes (even though I'm not entirely certain if that's okay, being straight and all), because it is a much easier to say (and more inclusive) than LGBT and I've spent so much time in places that it has no stigma, that in my mind it has no stigma.

[MissBeaufort]

Black people have reclaimed the n-word, which was never a positive word. Also, the g word queer has been reclaimed. It was never a positive word, even before it was used to mean gay, but now members of the LGBT community use the word queer all the time with no stigma. Even I use the word queer sometimes (even though I'm not entirely certain if that's okay, being straight and all), because it is a much easier to say (and more inclusive) than LGBT and I've spent so much time in places that it has no stigma, that in my mind it has no stigma.

The usage of queer is definitely a good point, I hadn't thought of that. I suppose it does happen, then (although - being a straight person, I've never had anybody use "queer" to describe me in a positive, neutral or negative way, so I certainly can't claim a lot of knowledge around this). I do hope the same thing can happen with "slut", but I guess I'm not holding my breath?

Either way, Ms. Ford's comment is stupid and the retort is classy and awesome.

[ElphabaGalinda]

The usage of queer is definitely a good point, I hadn't thought of that. I suppose it does happen, then (although - being a straight person, I've never had anybody use "queer" to describe me in a positive, neutral or negative way, so I certainly can't claim a lot of knowledge around this). I do hope the same thing can happen with "slut", but I guess I'm not holding my breath?

Either way, Ms. Ford's comment is stupid and the retort is classy and awesome.

Queer has definitely been mostly reclaimed...you really only hear older people using it in a negative way. And totally okay to use if you're straight...it's the way a lot of people define their sexual orientation, and although I feel the definition is still a bit ambiguous it's gone from being only a slur to being mostly a way to describe a community and a legitimate sexual orientation. As a younger LGBT person, I've never had it used negatively against me (though I have had other words used negatively against me for my sexual orientation), and among the younger community it doesn't really have any stigma or negative connotation. So words can be reclaimed, as queer has been, though I have no idea how it happened. However it happened, it worked.

No matter what you call it though Ms. Ford is stupid for saying that, and her apology seemed insincere. Her uncle the mayor has a history of saying equally stupid things and making insincere apologize so I guess it runs in the family.

I actually know one person who voted for Rob Ford and still likes him. That's also the only conservative person I know well though.

[nomoxian]

One person I know who voted for Ford is an old coworker, who moved out to Oakville to "get away from the city" XD Though looking at his Facebook, he is still a conservative who 'likes' "Tim Wise is an Idiot" I can see the workplace equity workshop really worked for him!

Another is someone who, until recently lived with his parents (early 20s) in a suburban 'Toronto' home, and now doesn't think Ford is so great

EDIT: Regarding the Ms Ford fiasco - I'm glad for it if only because it made people more aware of what's going on. Posters have been up in my area for quite some time, warning women about attacks, but apart from that there was little outreach (that I was aware of at least)