Scene in Berlin

"Totally underdressed," was my first thought as I reached the crowd at Wittenberglatz in Berlin. Every dame and drag queen around me was wearing fishnet stockings, miniskirts, or adhesive tape on their nipples. They were outfits meant to speak for themselves, and they were screaming: slut!

Having a few more clothes on than the others didn't prevent me from quickly becoming one of the "walking sluts," however. No one made me feel an outsider. I got invited to exquisite burlesque shows and snapped pictures of the most unbelievable high heels.

It seemed more like a multicultural party, packed with friendly people, rather than a protest.

But I didn't forget the reason for being there. It was the 50th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall, and the day meant to put a crack in the wall of sexual assault stereotypes. Though it almost seems like the former was an easier achievement.

Therapy of sorts

Slutwalk participants are out to teach people (notably men) the meaning of two simple words: "yes" and "no." Until 1989, the breaking of the "no" at the Berlin Wall meant possibly getting shot. Nowadays, the violation of "no," when it comes to someone's own body, might end with blaming the victim. The essence is the same totalitarian attitude: You are free to do whatever we want you to.

"Women should not dress like sluts, in order to avoid rape," a Canadian police officer told students in Toronto earlier this year, in a university lesson on personal safety. As a local response to this nonsense allegation, the first Slutwalk was held in Toronto in April. Within just a few months, it has become a global movement aimed at changing mindsets about rape culture.

Thousands of women and men have already taken to the streets of Washington, Sydney, New Delhi, London and Amsterdam, to name only a few cities, to make the point that a short skirt or a pair of strappy heels does not translate into, "I want you to take them off."

In Berlin, I joined some 3,000 "sluts." One of them, Sophie, had a personal reason for putting on her sexiest red underwear, a corset and a pair of high heels. Several months ago, she was beaten up by a man when she came out of a bar. She supposes his motivation was her sexy outfit. The real reason still remains a mystery for her, and so does the face of the aggressor. She woke up on the pavement after a while and couldn't remember much of what happened.

For Sophie, the Slutwalk is a chance to say publically, no matter how I dress, you still don't have a right to beat me up.

Matthew, Sophie's friend from New York, joined her in the Berlin protest. He says that events like this can act as a kind of therapy - on an individual as well as political level. Besides, seeing Berlin from the middle of the big boulevards was quite cool, he thought. A unique opportunity, I agreed.

Special treatment

I have to say that playing the slut proved to be quite tiring. So, after a few hours of walking in the sun and shouting "I am a slut," we thought we'd grab a bite. As hard as it was to pick up a place where Sophie's underwear and Matthew’s fishnet shirt would be appropriate, we finally found something at Gendarmenmarkt.

The you-don't-belong-here look on peoples' faces was hard to miss. The guy sitting next to us literally dropped his jaw when he saw Sophie. I have to admit it's fairly uncommon to sit next to Miss Moulin Rouge in a restaurant. At the end of the meal, there was no "thank you for the tip," no "you're welcome for the food."

I had been playing the slut for hours, next to my Slutwalk friends and it was an amusing break from the everyday. But away from the sexy protestors, facing the "respectable" people in an upscale restaurant in Berlin, was the first time I'd experienced how it actually feels to be regarded as, well, a slut.

So Mister Toronto Police Officer, I wasn't even wearing a short skirt or a low-cut blouse. And Sophie and Matthew usually tone their outfits down just a bit in real life. Do we deserve to be despised, teased, or even assaulted?

The only thing a short skirt is asking for is a glamorous pair of shoes.

Author: Lavinia Pitu

Editor: Kate Bowen