The Walk a Mile event has male participants don women’s shoes to raise awareness about sexual violence against women.
Men will take to the streets to raise awareness of sexual violence against women Saturday, but some wonder if as soon as the heels come off, so does the responsibility.
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is an event that takes the topic of sexual assault against women to the streets — literally. About 70 men donned women’s footwear for the mile-long march across campus last year with 30 women participating as sideline support. Although the march has made waves in the campus community each of the six years it has taken place, the underlying issues may not receive as much attention as the men stumbling over the bricks.
Susanne Dietzel, director of the Women’s Center, said it’s always planned by men, for men and has been affiliated with the Women’s Center.
“I think (the effect has) always been positive,” Dietzel said. “In that humorous moment, that is also a moment when things might click for some.”
Along with the positive aspects of the march come critiques, such as the idea that men put on these shoes without the intent of carrying the values of the march into everyday life, said Madison Koenig, a senior studying English and Student Senate’s commissioner for women’s affairs.
Koenig organized an event that took place Thursday evening that allowed people to create signs for use in sideline support challenging this, as well as other problems people may have with the march. Koenig said she hopes the end of the march is not the end of the conversation for participants.
Bill Arnold, graduate assistant for bystander intervention and prevention education for the Women’s Center, said he, in his three years of being involved with the event, has had some concerns, particularly with men truly understanding why they’re putting these shoes on. The newly created Walk a Mile in Her Shoes week of education was one way he tackled this issue, with various panels and events providing more context for the march.
Delfin Bautista, director of the LGBT Center, said the issues around the march also include gendered participation. The event can disregard the fact that men and individuals who identify as LGBT also can be victimized.
“I think it sends a message to non-female victims and survivors that their stories don’t have a place and reinforces that men are the problem,” Bautista said. “I don’t think it’s healthy to dichotomize it in that way, you know women-victim, men-perpetrator.”
Arnold said, although the event is inherently gender-based, he is constantly working to make the event more inclusive. For example, if a trans individual that was previously male-identified but whose gender expression is now female wanted to participate in the march, she could.
What the march ultimately provides, Arnold said, is a space for male-identified people to understand gender-based violence and to use that knowledge, as well as their own experiences, in a productive way.
“I think they need to intentionally use the privilege that comes with some of those identity formations to empower themselves to advocate for change and to empower other people that don’t always have access to the same resources and opportunities,” Arnold said. “I think you kind of have to be realistic about where people are at and meet them there.”
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