Login / RegisterVideo: SlutWalk Vancouver organizer Katie Raso says "No means no", regardless of what she's wearing
One of the lead organizers of SlutWalk Vancouver, SFU graduate student Katie Raso, surprised a crowd of hundreds outside the Vancouver Art Gallery by vividly demonstrating the point of today's march.
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She began by acknowledging that there have been controversies about the protest, which is designed to draw attention to violence against women—and why women should not be assaulted based on what they wear.
Katie Raso shared why she organized SlutWalk Vancouver.
"My name is Katie," she declared. "I am a daughter, I am a sister, I am a girlfriend, I'm a neighbour and a colleague and a community organizer."
She said like the hundreds of people at the protest, she is a person of value who deserves to be respected.
"My body is my own," she told the crowd. "When I say 'Yes', it means yes. And when I say 'No', you better believe it means no."
Then she said she was going to show people something that might blow their mind. With that, she peeled off her pants, put on four-inch heels, and stood in front of the audience in a shiny black miniskirt.
"My name is still Katie Raso," she reminded everyone. "I am still a daughter. I am still a sister, a girlfriend, a colleague, a neighbour, and a community organizer. Like all of you gathered here today, those who could not be with us, and those who have yet to join us, I am still a person of value. And I still deserve respect. When I say 'Yes', it still means yes. And when I say 'No', you better believe it still means no."
She concluded her speech by saying: "My body is still my own. It's just four inches taller."
Then she asked people to spread the message that just because she's showing it doesn't mean she's sharing it.
"The length of my skirt does not change my worth."
Related articles:
SlutWalk Vancouver raises the bar in movement against victim-blaming
Vancouver SlutWalk challenges blame placed on sexual assault victims
Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.
From one woman to another. May every woman stand in sisterhood of each other to be less critical and judgmental so that every man will hear your message loud and clear.
because..."The length of my skirt does not change my worth...
I am still a person of value. And I still deserve respect."
Hear me out before you get mad at me.
I always end up having sex with women so fast. I meet a girl and I usually end up having sex with her after a couple hours of meeting her. This completely kills any chance of having a bond with her. How am I supposed to court you and try and get to know you, when after only a couple of hours I'm already having sex with you? Then you call me the next day or couple days and want a date, but I'm not motivated to because I already fucked you!
I feel like it destroys my ability to be a man, when you are so willing to fuck me without putting any effort to getting to know you. I end up just seeing you as a sex object because I've already fucked you with 0 effort required.
Maybe I'm just retarded, but I wish it was harder to get sex. I wish I could meet a woman who was interested in going for sushi with me, or walking her dog, BEFORE I am balls deep in her vagina. It seems in Vancouver I am often deep inside a girl before I even know her last name, what her favorite movie is, or what she even does for a living.
dont judge HER, it takes 2 to tango..and YOU didnt have enough respect for yourself to say no..and say you wanted to wait and get to know her better...I'm not judging. just dont blame if you were an eager,willing, active and consenting Participant .
Second off, I have had this happen many, many times. Women will meet me, and they will be the aggressor. It doesn't even have to happen at my place, last summer I got a blowjob right in English bay on a first date, nearly immediately after dinner at Milestone's. I didn't even ask for it, I was just kissing her on the rocks up the beach, and whammo, next thing I know she's unbuttoning my pants.
I am 33 years old and I was brought up to think that women are women and men are men. Men act in a certain way, and women act in a certain way. I suppose that I am having a hard time adapting to the modern lifestyle of women acting like men, and men acting like, not quite men.
The majority of women I know are so open to having meaningless sex, that I seem to have lost my own ability to court them. If you reward me with sex for having done nothing to deserve fucking you, I will get in the habit of only having sex with multiple women! There is no motivation to stop and get to know you. My friends ask me why they don't have a boyfriend, and I ask them, how often do you sleep with a man on the first date? It's pretty unanimous that they nearly always do. If women are this promiscuous, is it any wonder why the dating scene can be described as toxic in Vancouver?
Maybe I have just been involved with some crazy broads, and maybe my male friends are just completely retarded too, I don't know. I have had so many strangers tell me similar stories as to what other people have experienced.
The summer is coming up, and I plan to research this further as part of my study for film. I have noticed that traditionally chauvinistic behavior, such as brashly commenting on how good a woman looks in a short skirt, low cut top, often illicit the best responses from women! This is the attention they seem to want me to give them.
I understand the idea of stopping violence against women, but the reference to the congo did not seem very wise of the author. One is a first world nation without any real violence or sectarian/political strife, the other is a 3rd world country with history of cannibalism, near constant civic war, religious practices that condone witchcraft. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4877722.stm Our societies differ so much, I'm afraid it is like comparing which could could to ten faster: A cheddar tornado, or the ghost of oscar wilde.
even though..he has NOTHING upstairs ?!?
never mind plum smugglers....
I find it very double standardish that women can exploit their body sexually for liberation purposes....yet tie men down with etiquette rules only apply to them?
are we not the fairer race?
I guess not...I guess men ARE a little more civilized ??
yeah, you go girl, show them we all sluts
The second problem is that I've read a self-described slut stated: "I still deserve respect." Google "define:respect" and you get "Admire (someone or something) deeply, as a result of their abilities, qualities, or achievements." But, ladies, if you are walking seriously exposed, men would simply fail to concentrate on your astounding mental prowess or your ability to cook. You are very much advertising yourself as a slut, and still expect respect? Ain't gonna happen. The respect IS due to REAL ladies, who, despite all the filth in the pop culture pushing them towards becoming sluts, wait until marriage for sex, have sex only with their husband, and do not feel like they need to show their assets to the entire world to be "liberated." Think about it, ladies, expecially the one who brought her 9-year-old daughter to this sad gathering of self-described sluts.
as for you Sicklove....
I assure you if you asked me out..I wouldn't sleep with you..even when I am wearing a shirt skirt and a tight top...
Support our men... :) priceless.
The trouble is people bypass the dating and jump into bed. Guess what? The thrill is gone! Next conquest? I thought I loved you baby but you were, in the end, just a slut. I lost interest and respect for you. It works both ways of course. Time to grow up folks. Get back to civilization as God meant it to be. Our society, like the Romans and Greeks. Has morally crumbled like a great big cookie.
What else you got? Gay men are asking for a bashing when they act too gay?
every curve tells you that.
and yes means YES ..
and when I say it ..i say it because it on my terms.
I agree with Monty..
the dating element is gone.
A date these days consist of a qucik coffee and a massage??..WHO does that??..Wake up Vancouver.
IF you want to have that connection with a person,try investing in the dating, and I can assure you it wont be a BJ on a first date..(and your trips to the local clinic will no longer be part of your weekly routine). Substance starts with YOU.
enough said.
There is always going to be some woman that make all women look bad, just like there is going to be some dickhead guy that makes us want to generalize about all men.
The saddest part of all is that women are being raped and beaten. No one deserves to be raped or beaten - ever.
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