A 17-Year-Old Does SlutWalk @ MS magazine Oct 5 2011

This was a fantastic article in M.S. Magazine- and I had to respond to it!
 http://ow.ly/6NzsU read article here!

No means NO ! Maybe means NO ! NOTHING means NO! Yes means YES and I HAVE THE RIGHT AT ANY POINT THEREAFTER TO SAY NO too!

It astounds me to think that there is not a single woman in my circle of friends or family who was not been raped and/or molested, at some point in their lives by a man. I by no means am a man hater- so please do not take that statement in that context. What is profound is that as a whole, the male populous see's themselves as the "protector" of their mothers, sisters, and loved ones. Despite that, a huge percentage of them are in fact violators, and perpetuators of rape. When asked, many rapists are against rape, but do not consider their acts to be rape! Many case studies show this is a large contributor to men’s actions towards women. One thing to consider as a "stimulant" to this behavior is pornography and the constant domination, and degradation of women IN it. Men see this as enlightened, sexual power; then as the consumers of pornography they are desensitized to this fantasy  they masturbate to- and THAT furthers the idea that domination, forcefulness, degradation and manipulation make any woman truly want to have sex (even if she says NO!) because after all, that is what we are made for in the eyes of  most males. It is a social norm, and a romanticized one at that, that it is ok for men to utilize pornography. It is seen as a way to get off and ultimately leads to skewed ideas about what women like, want, and mean when they say NO! Not all men are like this certainly- but there is allot that are. I commend all of you for your participation in "Slut Walk" and hope it certainly sends a message.... this was a beautifully written piece... and unfortunately the realist in me, or maybe it is the pessimist, thinks that why you are out there slaving to send this message, the majority of perps. are out degrading some woman they think is a slut and only worthy of getting F**ked despite her words or actions that clearly say NO!! or maybe, they are sitting home, masturbating to porn to further propagate their fantasy world so woman as a whole, can suffer the consequences of this fantasy. All in All, I hope law enforcement, including the FBI which just had meetings in D.C. this week to review their standards for RAPE under FEDERAL LAW and see if they are "worthy" of being updated and revised.... mark that word,,,, worthy.. like women, often ignored and seen as subservient....wonder what that will get us? I remember being called a slut and brutally teased at the age of 12- because I was pretty and got attention; I was called horrific things in school. The bullying was so bad at one point; I did not even want to go to school and would cry every morning. and p.s...I was a Virgin until I was two weeks shy of my 16^th Birthday. So personally, to see the word SLUT taken back from men, and empowered by woman, has a personal sense of “POWER” to me because of its derogatory use towards me. To see its use switched gears by the fact you now  use it to empower and stop RAPE? That leads to great GRATIFICATION! Anyways, keep up the good work,  and pray it impacts many....