Privilege and Prejudice

Let's start with privilege.

What a complicated concept.

It's not as simple as "have" and "have not." But "having it" to any degree automatically makes it harder to talk about in an insightful way. Without coming off like, well, a privileged dick.

I was born in, and live in Canada. My socioeconomic status is good. I'm university educated. I'm white. Cis gendered. Heterosexual. Able bodied.

What can somebody like me bring to the table when talking about privilege?

I can talk about what it meant to me, when a police officer in the city I grew up in, live in, and love, said that women should avoid dressing like sluts to avoid being sexually assaulted.

The comment led to outrage. In a concrete sense, it led to the creation of Slutwalk, a protest march to reclaim the word slut which has gone global.

So. The infamous statement by one misguided Toronto cop. I was outraged for a few reasons. Most significantly, I feel that it is absolutely appalling for a law enforcement officer to express this kind of victim blaming attitude. The way in which the message was delivered is harmful too: "we're not supposed to say this but..." i.e. "it's not publicly acceptable for us to express, but this is how cops really feel." This, in an already distrustful city. For the sake of simplicity, I'm going to assume we can all agree here and now that this kind of statement is unacceptable (even though I know there are many people who do hold this opinion).

But it also shocked me for a reason very much tied into the privilege discussed above. Due to the qualities I list above, I have tended to assume that cops will leave me alone. Not just that, I have assumed that cops have my best interests in mind. That they will serve and protect me.

This is an obvious example of what it really means to be privileged. It's not that I've never been hassled by the police, because I have been. But I think it's safe to assume that the "degree of hassle" would have been greater if I were, say, black. Homeless. A young man. A prostitute. Or in some way visibly outside the norm. 

I'm actually conflicted on whether I like the idea of Slutwalk or not. Something about it has never sat quite right with me, although I couldn't say what exactly until I read this excellent article. I agree that the ability to participate in a "Slutwalk" comes from a place of privilege, and that it doesn't necessarily do much to change the systemic problems created by, basically, slutshaming. On the other hand, I do think it's a really difficult problem to overcome because people who engage in slutshaming seem to me to have very deeply ingrained prejudices. And I think it's a worthy goal for women to reclaim and own their sexuality. (Also even though I agree with many of the above author's points, I do think using the words "white supremacy" in the title is more harmful than helpful. I idealistically believe feminists should go easy on each other even when we disagree with each other or think that others are acting in a way that is misguided. Maybe that's my privilege talking.)

Anyways. Privilege. Touchy topic. Most times when I read a piece by a privileged person talking about privilege, I feel that they get it wrong. And I'm not saying that to somehow claim that I've got it right, because I really don't know what I'm talking about.

But instead of opening up a slut-specific firestorm, I wish that this event would have led to a discussion of police prejudice and how it gets reinforced simply by virtue (vice?) of being a police officer.

Some police officers go into their careers holding certain prejudices. E.g., Black people commit more crimes. Natives abuse more substances. Girls dressed like sluts are more likely to be sexually assaulted.

Sidenote: I would like to put sluts in quotation marks for the entirety of this piece because I really do take issue with everything about that word. The idea that women who like sex deserve to be labelled by a derogatory term. The idea that such women dress a certain way. The idea that you can tell how much sex a woman wants by the way that she dresses. And of course, the idea that dressing a certain way is equivalent to consenting to sex.

Let's use the firestorm example. A police officer who believes sluts get raped, is more likely to find evidence to reinforce his belief. As the first level responders to crime, police witness, on a daily basis, the incidents the rest of us may only hear about, sporadically, perhaps diluted through whatever channel (e.g. news). Even demographics which are more likely to be victims of crime, probably don't witness the same amount as police do. If my hypothetical prejudiced police officer responds to 50 "sluts" and 50 "prudes" reporting sexual assault cases, he is nevertheless more likely to remember the evidence that confirms his beliefs, i.e., more likely to remember the "sluts." That's the nature of prejudice - it is self-perpetuating.

Secondly, there is actually a real reason that perpetrators might be more likely to prey on women dressed like "sluts" and it comes in two parts. One, rapists prey on vulnerable individuals. Individuals who won't be believed, or perhaps even heard. Two, if cops express the opinion that sluts deserve to get raped (or that they were asking for it, or that they brought it on themselves), they become a vulnerable population. See how that's a vicious cycle? It's not the manner of dress that's inherently problematic. It's the values that are attached to that manner of dress by people who hold power, such as police. And perpetrators.

created by Matt Bors

I want to acknowledge for a second all of the police officers and campaigns which have been progressive and pro-survivor and trying to understand the systemic problems. You rock. (And by the way, an interesting turn of events: I wrote this article prior to the May long weekend - on May 23, 2011, the Toronto police apparently launched a public awareness of sexual assault campaign).

Unfortunately for Toronto, the ball is getting dropped here. Now I know Slutwalk is about reclaiming the word slut and not explicitly f*ck the police (am I going to get arrested for writing that on the internet?). That's not my message either. I'm just pointing out the problem that stands out most obviously to me, and I don't think the Slutwalk movement is really addressing it.

As the members of the public who enforce the law, police officers should be trustworthy, accountable, and educated. I know that probably seems like a total pipe dream to people who are far more targeted by police than someone such as myself. And don't get me wrong, I'm not particularly hopeful myself. I'm not even sure what steps can be taken to progress towards that point. For one thing, can you even openly protest a police force without suffering some kind of serious consequences?

So for all that it's not perfect, I respect the organizers of Slutwalk for creating a movement that many people identified with and wanted to be a part of. Actual, physical mobilization always makes me happy to see.  And as a final statement, I do think that anybody who uses the word slut in a derogatory term, really does not deserve to get laid ever again in their life. So if Slutwalk is making people of all genders stand up for that cause, even if it's a privileged one, it's nevertheless a step in the right direction.