Skirt Wars Movement

This proposal was inspired by our pioneer #MeToo movement. Women around the

world have been using the hashtag #MeToo to tell stories of sexual assault or

harassment. The movement has brought down not only industry leaders but also by

dignitaries. Instead of saying it's about sex, it's more about power. Sex and power

cannot be discussed separately, and we can only look at them intersectional. The

problem of so many sexual crimes and violence occur is really a problem of power

difference.

The #MeToo movement has raised many new questions for this era, many of which

remain unanswered. On the positive side, the #MeToo movement has at least made

women's complaints taken seriously by the public. In addition to legal loopholes, lack

of social institutions and lax law enforcement, every time a sexual crime occurs, society

can give the victim a variety of reasons to believe that “you deserve to be harassed.”

With all the reports of rape, we can see many kinds of ugly words that are used to judge

women. For a long time, when women came forward to accuse men, the finger of

suspicion eventually falls back on women. The New York Times published an article

about several women who reported being sexually harassed and abused by the

Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein was fired from his media company

four days later (Arriaza Ibarra 154). Unfortunately, this is not a victory won with the

help of the judiciary. It is the courage of individuals and the power of public opinion.

However, sex crime and violence have its own particularity. Unlike other crimes,

sexual assault and sexual harassment can be difficult to prove and often rely on the

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testimony of both parties. What's more, sexual assault cases often have unequal power

relationships, and normal channels of appeal don't work. In the article “If We Abolish

Police, What Happens to Rapists?”, the author mentioned that every 1000 sexual

assaults, about 230 of those are reported. Of the 230 reported cases, fewer than 5 result

in incarceration (Mensah 2020). From statistics, the ultimate punishment for sexual

violence by the judiciary is light, and most rapists do not go to jail. These questions

gave us a lot of thought about why sexual violence is so rampant. Due to the punishment

and consequences are not very serious, the perpetrators use violence against women

with impunity and easy. What we need to do is to actively respond to this situation and

push for stricter penalties at the state and national level.

Inspired by The Combahee River Collective Statement, we have decided to take

action against sexual violence. To address this issue, our collective wants to come up

with a new program, which we call "Skirt Wars," because we want women around the

world not to be afraid that wearing a skirt will be considered a cause of sexual violence

and assault. It will be divided into two parts. For the first part, we are going to launch

the "Skirt Wars" manifesto and protest march. We will organize all the women working

on this movement to wear their favorite skirts and take to the streets to shout to the

world.

In addition, we are integrating hip hop feminism and inviting hip hop female rapper

to create a theme song for this movement, which we will channel to all major social

media platforms to promote. considering that hip-hop culture has been commercialized

in the marketplace, and records have been produced to cater to gangs, violence, crime,

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sex, and misogyny (Rose 6). For this reason, Hip-hop culture sometimes gives people

a false sense of disrespect for women, and derogatory lyrics have become a hip-hop

tradition. Money and women have always been two indispensable factors in the male

rapper world. It's the privilege of male hip-hop artists to have sexy women on the left

and on the right, not only to assert their control over money, power, and beauty, but

also to express their desire, and even disdain for women in the lyrics (Hurt et al. 2015).

While women's rights have soared at all levels of society, female hip-hop artists remain

a relatively small minority in the still male-dominated hip-hop scene. We expect to

promote the movement among feminists who love hip-hop music, and we want to make

it clear that women don't wear beautiful dresses to attract men, they just want to please

themselves.

In the second part, we will establish an online platform dedicated to helping women

who have been victimized by sexual violence or assault seek legal assistance.

Something has been in the public discourse of politicians for years, but this has led to

piecemeal and weak action that has not solved the problem (Arriaza Ibarra 155).

Therefore, our action will not be the same as referring victims' cases to a legal aid center

or helping them find a solicitor. We will accept all eligible women without distinction

and personally defend them. We will also launch an online campaign to get more people

to show their support for women who have been victims of violence. In the era of

traditional media, as most power is concentrated in the hands of men, women lack the

channels to express their demands publicly, and media access rights cannot be

implemented. When we mention the women who toil to write the local news and report

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on the most important issues of daily life, most of us probably won't be able to name

the reporters responsible for those key stories. This shows that women are badly under-

represented in the media (Peters 2018). But the empowerment of Internet media has

become an “age of microphones for everyone”. Although some of the exposure is not

well-known, but its information involves well-known people, still can attract many

forwarding attention; Moreover, it is the low threshold of information release that

enables more non-opinion leaders to participate and makes the public realize the

prevalence and seriousness of the problem. Therefore, we now have online channels to

raise the awareness of gender and power through education, to criticize and correct the

patriarchal society in a certain economic and cultural context, and to promote new

female images.

The current acceleration development of media technology encouraged the spread

of openness and freedom in the current environment, female voice to rise gradually.

Mass communication changed public opinion environment, reconstruction of female

voice. At the same time, the agenda setting of more open online media influences the

society to change the phenomenon of marginalization of women in the current media

environment with its own power. It works to increase the awareness of women in

constant interaction and dares to break up patriarchal incarceration. The public opinion

environment for women's rights and equality between men and women has gradually

formed, allowing women to be more active in expressing their voices. The spread of

female consciousness is conducive to the communication and interaction of feminist

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thoughts and has a great influence on promoting the awakening of female consciousness

and defending their rights.

In conclusion, we believe that this problem needs to be addressed and that we need

to correct male complacency. We appeal to the world that we wear skirts because we

think they're pretty and we like them, and that doesn't mean we dress casually and want

to seduce men. Victims of sexual violence should not be blamed for this reason, and

perpetrators should not be excused for it. We are against any form, any degree of victim

condemnation. I think my suggestion is necessary and urgent at this time of emergency.

The development of the Internet era, while giving women a voice, has also encouraged

online trolls to spread offensive remarks at will in news reports of sexual violence. This

kind of cyberbullying is eroding women's communities and threatening to stop

women’s right from wearing skirts and walking on the street.

Our collective group dictating each and every part of the skirt wars movement is a

cohesive unit, involved in every single aspect of the movement, in order to have a result

that we’ve envisioned. We are the ones in the frontline, handling every word on the

statement, scouting online platform, to even the legalities. Each and every single

member of this collective aspires to get their hands dirty and be genuinely involved

with what we hope to be, an act to change the world. Now it’s your turn to support our

movement. Please provide us with the funds so that we can get to the real work as soon

as possible. We will use this fund to start an online support platform, to hire lawyers,

and to truly stand up for women who have been victims of sexual violence and assault.

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 Work Cited

Arriaza Ibarra, Karen. “Global Perspectives on the #MeToo Movement: From 'Big

Noise' to 'Discrete Oblivion'?” Interactions: Studies in Communication & Culture,

vol. 10, no. 3, 2019, pp. 153–158.

Hurt, Byron, et al. "Hip-Hop (Beyond Beats & Rhymes)." Online video clip. SAGE

Video. Media Education Foundation, 16 Apr. 2015. Web. 8 Aug. 2020.

Mensah, Cassandra. “If We Abolish Police, What Happens to Rapists?”, TEEN

VOGUE, June 24, 2020, https://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-happens-to-

rapists-if-abolish-police.

Peters, Jennifer. “Why Women's Voices Matter In Media.” News Media Alliance, 26

Sept. 2018, www.newsmediaalliance.org/why-womens-voices-matter/.

Rose, Tricia. The Hip Hop Wars. New York: Basic Books, 2008. Print.