After marching down Kirkwood Avenue in protest of sexual assault, women and men sat closely to share their own experiences with self-doubt and self-hate after being sexually harassed, groped or raped.
One woman told the confidants her experience with isolation and shame after breaking up with an abusive boyfriend.
Another spoke about her struggle coming to terms with being raped by her boyfriend.
Some women wore T-shirts and jeans, and others their bras and shorts as they gathered in Dunn Meadow. One woman, unabashed, wore nothing but jeans and silver star stickers over each breast. The women, along with some men, marched down Kirkwood to the Monroe County Courthouse to participate in IU’s annual Slut Walk.
“Whatever we wear, wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no,” the marchers chanted.
A Slut Walk is a national movement which calls for an end to rape culture and sexual harassment by engaging in peaceful protest. IU’s annual Slut Walk is organized by the Feminist Student Association to raise awareness of sexual assault and victim blaming.
Sophomore Lucy Battersby, FSA’s director of communications, said the goal of the march is to provide marginalized and underrepresented people with an environment where they feel comfortable openly discussing issues relating to sexual assault regardless of their gender, race, socioeconomic status or sexual orientation.
Battersby said the organization has three main reasons for coordinating the event each year.
“We want to build solidarity, spark critical conversation, and provide a safe community platform for individuals and groups who have been marginalized,” she said.
Before the march down Kirkwood, the female advocates gathered and amicably discussed the intersectionality of sexuality, feminism and diversity.
Organizations such as All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center, Bloomington PRIDE, Planned Parenthood, Omega Phi Beta and the National Organization for Women had tables with information and resources for sexual assault survivors.
The crowd came together and sat on the grass, while members from some of these organizations took the stage. They spoke to the crowd about how their organizations help sexual assault survivors and their experiences dealing with sexual assault.
Janae Cummings, the board chair of Bloomington PRIDE, said although her parents believed she was just as capable as any man growing up, she didn’t think of herself as a feminist.
“There’s so much I don’t know and so much I need to learn,” she said. “When I was growing up, being a feminist was a bad thing. It was a bad word. Feminists were loud and angry and stubborn and definitely ugly and probably lesbian.”
Cummings emphasized the importance of being an inclusive feminist. She said feminism is not just about being a strong woman, but also about building other women, including women of color and queer women, up.
“It’s not feminism if you’ve left the rest of us behind,” Cummings said.
