Faculty Sponsor(s)
Brenda DeVore Marshall
Location
Jereld R. Nicholson Library
Subject Area
Communication Arts/Rhetoric
Description
This study examines an open letter created by the Black Women’s Blueprint Organization in response to the reappropriation of the term “slut” in SlutWalk Toronto, a protest march against rape culture. Using Kenneth Burke’s cluster criticism method, it evaluates the effectiveness of this rhetorical strategy through the lenses of race, ethnicity, and socio-economic differences. This study enables those involved in the movement to move forward productively, more inclusively. The research question addressed is as follows, the latter acting as a sub-question of the first: (1) In regards to United States Third Wave feminist goals, are SlutWalks achieving the desired long term outcome? (2) Is the strategy of reclaiming “slut” having the desired effect? Analysis offered insight into four themes: (1) reinforcement, (2) oppression, (3) lack of space, and (4) difference.
Recommended Citation
Noe, Siena C., "Slut Pride: The Reappropriation Attempt by SlutWalk" (2014). Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement. Event. Submission 1.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/symposium/2014/all/1
Slut Pride: The Reappropriation Attempt by SlutWalk
Jereld R. Nicholson Library
This study examines an open letter created by the Black Women’s Blueprint Organization in response to the reappropriation of the term “slut” in SlutWalk Toronto, a protest march against rape culture. Using Kenneth Burke’s cluster criticism method, it evaluates the effectiveness of this rhetorical strategy through the lenses of race, ethnicity, and socio-economic differences. This study enables those involved in the movement to move forward productively, more inclusively. The research question addressed is as follows, the latter acting as a sub-question of the first: (1) In regards to United States Third Wave feminist goals, are SlutWalks achieving the desired long term outcome? (2) Is the strategy of reclaiming “slut” having the desired effect? Analysis offered insight into four themes: (1) reinforcement, (2) oppression, (3) lack of space, and (4) difference.
