Reclaim the Night

This weekend I went to Reclaim the Night, the British version of Take back the night. Yes, they stole the idea from Americans, yes they had it in November, yes it was freezing! It was very cool though. We walked in the middle of the streets from Embankment to Kings Cross, which took about 2 hours. We chanted "Whatever we wear, where ever we go, yes means yes and no means no!" and "Say hey (hey) ho (ho) Sexual violence has to go!" and my favorite "Women united, will never be defeated!" We also sang clever rhymes. I carried a picket sign that said "Stop violence against women." But I think the best part was the people on the pavement taking pictures and people popping their heads out of their windows either showing support or just seeing what all the noise was about. I felt like I was taking part of something important, important enough for passers-by to take notice.

I do have some complaints about the evening. Maybe it's just cultural differences or maybe it's actual wrongs, I'm not sure. First off the march was womens only by rule. Now I suppose I can sort of justify this. It is a march to support women who have been effected by male violence and to show that we won't stand for it. But the fact of the matter is we can't end male violence against women without the support of men! I think we need men to feel a part of our efforts and excluding them isn't helping anything. That's why I hate the word Pro-feminist. Why can't everyone be a feminist?

I also didn't care for the rally after the march. We all came in from the bitter cold and sat down on the floor to listen to 6 speakers. A few of them talked about the joy of sisterhood we all experienced but mostly they talked about hate. How much they hated the world for allowing violence against women. Now I hate rape as much as the next feminist. It's what got me into feminism in the first place. But these women were all about hate. And maybe it's just a cultural difference but my experience with Take Back the Night as always been one of positive healing energy and support. At JMU we hear survivors stories and then go on a candlelit vigil for other survivors. Yes we hate the abusers, but that's not the focus.

When I created this blog I thought about calling myself an angry feminist. Because I'll tell you what, I am angry. I'm angry that women get paid less than men, I'm angry we've been sold into marriage, I'm angry rape exists, I'm angry about how we're portrayed in the media. But here's the thing. Hate and angry don't do anything but cause more violence and hate. It's a vicious cycle and I would give anything to end it. There's a reason MLK Jr and Ghandi were so effective. I think we all need to take a step back and find a way to combat hate without hate. Isn't that what Harry Potter taught us? lol