Amber Rose, SlutWalk organizer and author of How to Be a Bad Bitch, has spoken out about an assault she experienced in at a young age, highlighting the pervasive nature of sexual assault in our culture. In a new interview with MTV Rose reveals she was assaulted in middle school, claiming she went to the school principal, who ultimately did nothing. Instead the principal allegedly told her, "You shouldn’t even be wearing a skirt like that."
Tapping Rose's outspoken call for women's liberation, MTVasked, "This year, we’ve seen a lot of stories about students being taken out of class or sent home from prom for dress code violations. Most of those students are girls. Do you think that’s sexist?"
Abso-frickin’-lutely, girl. I was sexually assaulted in the seventh grade. This boy stuck his hand all the way up my skirt. I was sitting on the edge of the stage in the auditorium, and he sat down next to me and put his hand up my skirt… I went to principal, and I told her that I felt extremely violated. I couldn’t believe that he had touched me like that. And she blamed me. She said, “You shouldn’t even be wearing a skirt like that.” Obviously, in the seventh grade, my skirt was not that short — but even if it was, that didn’t give him the right to shove his hand up my skirt.
This unfortunately underlines the frequent victim-blaming that cripples conversation about the prevalence of sexual assault in our society. Rose elaborated on the double standards that plague women who choose to dress provocatively, insisting, "There are Victoria’s Secret models who wear lingerie constantly, and no one calls them a ho. But if an Instagram model posts a picture of her in lingerie because she’s confident and she’s sexy and she’s happy with her body, she’s labeled a ho."
MTV then asked Rose about the underrepresentation of intersectional feminism, and why Rose thinks the lack of internationality exists in feminist dialogue.
I think it makes people uncomfortable, but I like to make people uncomfortable. I think it brings awareness. That’s why I refer to myself as a slut and why I embrace my ho-ism. Regardless of what I do, even when I was married or when I first came onto the scene and I was with one boyfriend, they called me a whore because I was a dancer. In our society, dancers are hoes. But strippers are not looking at guys in a sexual way; they see dollar signs. When they’re at work, they’re there to make money. It has nothing to do with sex. We are who we are, and we do what we do, but that doesn’t mean we’re not capable of love.
What a woman. Check out her full interview here.
