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Amber Rose Tells Us Why Her SlutWalk Is The Ultimate Feminist Movement

Amber wants women to 'slut walk' with pride — here's why you should join her.

Amber Rose is a lot of things: a model, an author, a mother, an actress, a social media sensation and an unabashed provocateur. But the multi-hyphenate beauty’s latest passion project adds her most important label to date: a champion of modern feminism.

The 31-year-old has organized the inaugural Amber Rose SlutWalk, which aims to break down gender stereotypes and double standards, and to educate and empower women in a totally inclusive environment. The movement isn’t a brand new one; the very first SlutWalk happened in Toronto in 2011, with walkers protesting against rape culture and slut-shaming, which are issues Rose says she herself has encountered.

“I deal with a lot of equality issues in my own life, and I wanted to make a difference any way I can,” Rose told MTV News at a press conference on Friday (Oct. 2). “So basically me and my team put our blood, sweat and tears into developing our own SlutWalk to bring awareness to what’s going on.”

A portion of downtown Los Angeles will be shut down for the event on Saturday, and Rose has encouraged participants to “wear what the F you want” and take part in all the day’s events, which include sign-making, a fashion show, comedy show and poetry slam.

But even though Rose’s SlutWalk is already one of the most high-profile walks in the movement’s history -- boasting generous supporters like Nicki Minaj -- the mission behind it is still the same: to break down the idea that women should dress a certain way to avoid being victimized.

“It seems as though the authorities and men would blame the women, basically insinuating that they wanted to get touched because they had on a short skirt or they had a bra top — that they were asking for it,” Rose said. “I know from personally having male friends, there would be a girl in the club that was maybe dancing very sexy and she had a short skirt, and they would be like, ‘She’s DTF. She’s ready to go.’ And I’m like, ‘Maybe she’s just having fun with her friends and she doesn’t like you and she doesn’t want to have sex with you.’ But usually, men — and women, also — would look at a girl like that and assume that she was not just having a good time.”

Anyone who follows Rose on Instagram or has seen her on red carpets before knows that she’s not shy about owning her sexuality or wearing revealing clothes. It’s a part of who she is — but unfortunately, it also invites unfair stereotypes and labels (which she literally wore on her sleeve with her bold outfit at this year’s VMAs).

“I like to dress provocative. I’m happy about my body. I work very hard at my body,” she told us. “And if I wear my cleavage out or I wear a short skirt, it does not mean I’m going to go have an orgy in the next five minutes. I could go be picking up my son or going out to eat, or whatever the case may be. It’s my body, it’s my choice, I can wear what I want, and it doesn’t mean I want you to touch me.”

Rose added that she thinks social media has “100 percent” encouraged slut-shaming by giving trolls a voice and allowing them “the opportunity to be extremely judgmental and hide behind a computer at the same time.” But she’s learned to cope with the nasty comments by refusing to indulge in arguments, and she wants to encourage other women to do the same.

“Be strong and you know, just hit ‘em back,” she said. “Especially on social media, hit ‘em back with something positive and with facts, instead of arguing. Really understand that we are humans, that we are allowed to be sexual beings. That anything a man can do, we can do. We’re very smart. We’re just as smart as a man. And if it’s in person, if you’re at school or something like that, definitely go to your parents and let them know that you’re getting bullied or slut-shamed.”

Rose said she’s already begun planning the second Amber Rose SlutWalk in 2016, and hopes to eventually bring the movement to other cities around the country. Until then, there’s more work to be done, more people to reach and more minds to change, using the one powerful word that she says sums up her entire mission: “Feminism.”

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