Thursday, April 7, 2011

Couldn't ask for a better first day.

Hello lovely ladies and gentlemen:

The first thing I want to say is that I'm overwhelmed with the amount of support that poured in within a day of me launching this blog and creating a twitter account under the name @slutwalkyyc.  Calgary is a city of a million loving hearts and it was great to see so many people excited to bring SlutWalk to life for this great cause.  This is why YYC is my home and it will always be home, because home is where the heart is, and this city has a lot of it.  Thank you guys so much for your enthusiasm and willingness to make a Satellite Slutwalk a reality.

Two lovely ladies by the names of Angela and Nicole were in touch with SlutWalk Toronto before me and have been organizing a SlutWalk movement in Calgary to take place sometime in June (no snow! hopefully...) and as exposure on this blog, my twitter, and my FB pages increased, so did confusion.  I apologize for that and I certainly had a hunch that somoene else had gotten the ball rolling before me, as SlutWalk Calgary was listed as TBA on the official Satellites page for TO.  Because they are the official organizers of the SlutWalk Calgary event, I am asking all of you guys that want to get involved to FOLLOW THEM.  Links to their FB page and Twitter accounts can be found below and please, please, PLEASE help them create a movement that makes history.  The cause behind SlutWalk is so much more than simply one of feminism and the more people see that and unify to represent that, the better.  Please keep that in mind.

As for my own contribution to SlutWalk Calgary, I will be leaving this blog up and running for the purpose of raising awareness about that very cause that will make SlutWalk Calgary a success.  Remember that sexual assault affects everyone and that everyone is vulnerable, therefore anyone can be a victim and no one should be blamed but those who perpetrate it.  That is the underlying cause of SlutWalk and it carries with it a powerful and fully relevant message.  Through promotion of this blog I plan to contribute a strong force of young people as passionate about this message as I am.  I feel like this cause is one that relates to a lot of people my age and that, very importantly, it doesn't discriminate on any grounds.  If that wasn't the case, I wouldn't support it.

In order to eliminate any further confusion, my FB page has been deleted and the Twitter account is about to go very soon.  I want to thank you all again for your support of this great cause and I hope that we all continue to unify to promote education and move away from ignorance.  Any and all media inquiries regarding the organization of SlutWalk, please contact Nicole and/or Angela through their Facebook fanpage as they are welcoming any and all promotion of the cause.  Inquiries to talk to me about SlutWalk, contact me directly and I may still do it, but realize that my focus is now on promoting the cause instead of leading the movement.

Visit the official SlutWalk Calgary Facebook fanpage: facebook.com/slutwalkcalgary
& follow them on Twitter: twitter.com/SlutWalkCalgary

Thank you guys again for your genuine, undying support and please continue to spread the word.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

In realtime: The blog that started it all (for me)

http://littlemissfunshine.tumblr.com/post/4386409850/anthagio-kevin-rupefiasco-serenakmax

Click on the link above to see the original tumblr blog that introduced me to SlutWalk to begin with, all of, oh... 6.5 hours ago.  It starts with an image that gets you thinking and ends with the real-time, completely non-PC comments after it that get you talking.  I know that SlutWalkToronto.com wants to support movements that are fully politically correct, but I still wanted to share this link to show the discussion that emerged from differing opinions, and sparked this mammoth of a project that I still haven't taken a break from, almost an entire workday later.  Simply put, I can't.

Do sexual assault victims ask to be assaulted?  Or one my favourite ways to put it, on one of the signs depicted in the background of this page - are my clothes louder than my voice?  That "asking for it" mentality is exactly what SlutWalk is about, because that mentality is backward and fully untrue.  No one asks for it.  And we aren't throwing a box around this and putting down all the men of the world for being rapists, because sexual assault can happen to anyone, anytime, any gender, any age.  Will you blame the five-year-old child that gets molested at daycare?  Will you blame the eighty-year-old woman with Alzheimer's that gets raped in a nursing home?  Will you blame the man that gets beaten and assaulted on his way home from work one day?  What about the families of those who get raped and murdered that get left behind?  Did they ask for it?  NO.  It's the same principle, the same violation of a human being, the same crime against a person's right to safety, wellbeing, and peace of mind.  No one asks for it.  Sexual assault affects us all and leaves a permanent stain on our communities.  Ladies and gentlemen, let's create a movement.  Let's bring a SlutWalk to Calgary streets and unite as Canadians, men and women, brothers and sisters, liberals and conservatives, young and old.  Because it really isn't about sex.  It's about ethics.

Official banner - spread the word!!

Hello everyone!  Thank you for checking out this brand new blog that I created to try to bring Slutwalk to YYC.  I created the banner above about half an hour ago after crafting the background of this blog that you're looking at right now, comprised of raw, inspiring spectator photos from Slutwalk Toronto that happened this past weekend.  I'll say this now so no one attacks me:

I do not own ANY of the photos used in the background of this page, or the Calgary skyline backdrop in the banner.  These images have been found by entering "slutwalk" and "calgary tower" queries into Google Images respectively.  I DID however create the banner above, the background you see here, and any subsequent variations I may post unless otherwise stated using Adobe Photoshop CS5.

Please, please, PLEASE help me promote this blog by putting the link to this blog, slutwalkcalgary.blogspot.com on your Facebook status, or you can tweet it, or throw the banner up on your blog or website and let people know about it!  I am in the process of contacting Slutwalk Toronto and Slutwalk Vancouver to see if they will be willing to support this blog in promotion of a Satellite Slutwalk. 

The movement has also leaked into the twitterverse!  Follow @slutwalkyyc (which is also me) which is where I'm trying to get the word out the most frequently.

Thank you everyone!  Let's make this happen!!!!

And so it begins

It's 5:00 AM and I'm having a 'firework' moment.  Katy Perry would be proud.  Now, let's start this thing.