Abstract
This chapter contributes a personal insight into, and reflection upon, the process of organising and enacting a contemporary feminist march. Focusing on SlutWalk Melbourne, the chapter considers how immaterial, digital, and emotional labour are performed within the campaign and how activists handle incidents of burnout and stress. “SlutWalk Melbourne: Negotiating Feminisms and Organising Activists” concludes with an examination of how different forms of feminism and various intersectional values are incorporated into the campaigning process. Gleeson reflects on how SlutWalk Melbourne negotiates its position within the broader landscape of feminist activism and what steps can be taken next by the campaign to ensure the continued practice of intersectionality.
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Notes
- 1.
Of further note is the fact that the research by Cook and Hasmath fails to correctly state the name of the march. Cook and Hasmath (2014) consistently refer to the movement as “Slut Walk failing to realise that the march is correctly referred to as a one word “SlutWalk.” Although this is a minor point, it is troubling that the researchers have not correctly identified how to name the very object they propose to analyse.
- 2.
To be clear, it is not the needs of our supporters that are restrictive but instead the wider systems that allow inaccessible venues to be built and licensed that make a commitment of this nature difficult, consequently leading to additional hours of venue research needing to be undertaken by the team.
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Gleeson, J. (2018). SlutWalk Melbourne: Negotiating Feminisms and Organising Activists. In: Dale, C., Overell, R. (eds) Orienting Feminism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70660-3_6
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