Slut Shaming Part II

 

Danielle: Being a slut is not an insult. I mean, don’t get me wrong. If you are an asshole who is using it to put a woman “back in her place,” that is unacceptable. However, a woman’s alleged sexual promiscuity does not determine her value. The true  issue is that our culture has connected this word to an “easy” woman without supporting why that’s a problem. If a woman enjoys sex and chooses to engage in sexual activity with multiple partners, that is her decision, and it isn’t even necessarily a bad thing. A lot of the times, it isn’t even connected to the woman’s self-esteem. When men sleep around, nobody says he’s trying to compensate because he has “daddy issues.” Only the woman who is having sex knows why she is doing it- and isn’t it awfully presumptuous to assume that it is because she is psychologically damaged?  A woman ought to have the right to do with her body as she deems fit, and if that involves being a “slut,” that is her right, and it isn’t necessarily a bad thing, so long as she is being safe and making smart decisions. 

 

Katherine: Words have no power in and of themselves. They might have a basic definition, but the same word can have drastically different connotations in different contexts and different cultures. The Oxford English definition of a ‘slut’ is ‘a woman who has many casual sexual partners’, and I see nothing wrong with using ‘slut’ as a label if a person fits that definition. However, the word is generally used in Western society to criticize a woman for that promiscuity, rather than simply acknowledge it. If a girl is called a slut in order to demean, embarrass, or negatively judge her then the word is being given that power by the user, not by the word itself. So yes, I believe ‘slut’ can be reclaimed. Right now, it is used as a negative label, but that’s already changing - in my generation, ‘You slut!’ can just as easily be a half-admiring half-shocked exclamation on hearing news of inter-gender relations as a negative judgement of those relations. Someday, future teens might find it silly that it was ever considered offensive to call someone a slut. 

 

Christiana--So maybe words only have power if you let them, but society has let the word slut become a dirty word. If a stranger called me a slut on the street, I’d probably be really upset and wonder what I could possibly have done to deserve being called this word. The idea of reclaiming any word is a very inspiring thought; however, it is simply not feasible. Though there are criticisms, such as the ways in which the LGBT community has reclaimed “queer”, the fact of the matter is that the word “slut” is so deeply ingrained not only in American society, but in other cultures as well. In order to reclaim the word you would need full participation from everyone. Moreover, feminist culture has already spent over ten years trying to reclaim the word “cunt” after the inception of The Vagina Monologues, and I am yet to see any headway in this matter. I’d love to reclaim the word “slut,” I’d love for it not to be the go-to insult for any female who expresses her sexuality; however, the simple problem of the matter lies in the premise of reclaiming words. Can they ever truly be completely reclaimed? If the LGBT community embraces “queer” identity, but homophobic people still use the word offensively has it really been reclaimed? Also, this is a very slippery slope. What about other equally offensive words that have been used as synonyms, “whore” “skank” “hussy” “ho.” Are we reclaiming these, as well? If the argument is being made that these words are being reclaimed so that WE define our sexuality than why not reclaim all of the terms? Though feminist society is making efforts to redefine the word “slut,” most noticeably with the recent growingly popular “Slut Walks,” it is not enough. Maybe we can make a choice to not be affected by these words, but the fact of the matter is that people are going to continue to use them negatively and purposely to hurt women.  And as long as that is going to happen, I do not support the movement to reclaim the word “slut.” 

 

Rachael: The word “slut” has gotten such a bad reputation in our culture. It is so often used by young women and men to describe others (mostly women) that enjoy sex. Why is it such a problem that women want to have sex? It’s perfectly ok for men to, for lack of better words, “sleep around”, yet the minute a woman wants to do the same she is coined a slut, whore, promiscuous, etc. It seems as though people are almost afraid of a woman that is comfortable enough with herself to have multiple sexual partners. However, since moving to Europe, this has seemed like a problem that is more prevalent in the United States. Here bare breasts are displayed on TV and billboards without being overly sexualized, people kiss friends at parties (yes, guys even kiss guys without saying “no homo!”), and it is generally more acceptable to have sex with people you are not in exclusive relationships with than it is in American culture. I think it is about time that we reclaim “slut” and stop using it as a malicious term to describe women that enjoy sex. As long as a woman is happy with what she is doing, we ought to leave her alone, and if that happiness involves being a so called “slut” then all the more power to her!