Denim day is arriving early this week. Long a bastion of
dress-down Fridays, denim jeans symbolize a more somber event this
Thursday, as women throughout our region don denim in symbolic
protest of an infamous French court ruling.
Denim day is arriving early this week. Long a bastion of dress-down Fridays, denim jeans symbolize a more somber event this Thursday, as women throughout our region don denim in symbolic protest of an infamous French court ruling.
In 2000, a French judge overseeing a rape case ruled that it was impossible to rape a woman wearing tight jeans. The implication, yet again, is that the victim was asking for the violent assault. The outcry among rape crisis centers took on international proportions. The anniversary of the French ruling, April 20, is a day women’s rights groups, rape-crisis centers and community organizations come together to raise awareness of the blind-eye often turned towards sexual assault.
“Raising awareness” is one of those catch phrases that has been overused to the degree that it is often dismissed as empty symbolism. But it has a concrete purpose.
We needn’t look further than the case being splashed across broadcast news “shows” of a Duke University student allegedly raped by members of the North Carolina college’s lacrosse team. It has gained momentum because of the race implications. She is black; the alleged assailants are white. What better fodder for race-baiters like conservative talk-show host Michael Savage to incite the crackers in his audience to scream witch hunt against “the boys at Duke.”
Lost in all the opportunism is awareness. Note how the victim is introduced: “An exotic dancer alleged …” Not “a single mother alleged,” or not “a Duke University college student alleged,” but an “exotic dancer.” All three are true, but her job trumps all because it has sexual overtones. Just like tight jeans.
“Denim day is designed to bring awareness that anyone can be sexually assaulted, even a woman wearing tight jeans,” said Vicki Caballero, sexual assault program coordinator for Community Solutions, a nonprofit group addressing a host of mental health needs in South Valley and Hollister, including sexual assault.
Community Solutions is coordinating candlelight vigils in Hollister and Gilroy on April 29. In Hollister the vigil is at 7 p.m. in front of the Veterans Memorial Building on San Benito Street. In Gilroy the vigil also will be at 7 p.m. in front of the Old City Hall building at the corner of Sixth and Monterey streets.
In San Jose on April 20, the annual YWCA “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” features a couple of hundred gents in high-heeled shoes walking from Ceasar Chavez Park to the YWCA offices to raise money for the Y’s rape-crisis center.
What does this symbolic “awareness raising” accomplish? It spurs dialogue. Hopefully in households throughout the region families will use the opportunity to talk about sexual assault with their kids, reminding their daughters to think defensively and their sons that the meaning of “no” is unambiguous.
As history continues to demonstrate, when rape victims are dismissed because they are exotic dancers or because of their snug jeans, there is a whole lot of talking that still needs to be done.
