Sonoma lawmaker fights back against threat to ‘slut-shame’ her
A Sonoma city councilwoman’s visits to Burning Man didn’t stay on the Playa. They came back to threaten her reelection campaign in the form of an anonymous website replete with a photo of her scantily clad, allegations of “lascivious, drunk and drug-addled behavior” and an email threat to further expose her if she didn’t withdraw from November’s council race.
But Rachel Hundley, 35, formerly mayor of the small city, decided not to give in to the threats. Instead of quitting, or just ignoring the accusations, she recorded a video in historic Sonoma Plaza, called her anonymous attackers “spineless individuals” and accused them of “slut shaming.”
Hundley said she never considered leaving the race for one of five seats on the City Council but decided to make the video to send a message. Her campaign posted the video on You Tube and sent it to supporters by email.
“I realized there were two paths I could take,” she said. “I could continue with the campaign and ignore it all or I could acknowledge that this is something that happens to women all over the country, and is something we should talk about.”
In the 4-minute, 23-second video, Hundley acknowledges that she has attended Burning Man and has served Sonoma wines at a well-known wine bar at a “consent-focused sex-positive theme camp” on the Playa. In both the video and an interview, she said she was not at all ashamed — or shamed.
“What was especially disturbing in this era of Me Too was the attempt to slut shame me for celebrating my body and