“Hey, Slut!”
I’m guilty of it– that vulgar greeting to a friend, said regardless of the person’s true sexual behavior… the occasional “oh, you slut” muttered (not maliciously) at a friend grinding on the dance floor.
But when does the word ‘slut’ become problematic?
I personally have decided to eliminate the word from my vocabulary for a few reasons.
Have you ever heard men say, “Hey, Manwhore” to one of their friends? No word exists with the same negative connotation to continuously monitor male sexual behavior. Now think of how many there are for women: slut, whore, hoe, tramp, hussy– just to name a few.
These words, used even jokingly, reaffirm the stigma associated with female sexual activity.
I constantly hear women complain about sexual double standards (“Men get to sleep with whoever they want without consequence but if a woman does it, she’s a slut”) and then call their friends ‘sluts’ in a playful manner. Even Nicki Minaj, someone I consider to be sexually open-minded, has a song called “Stupid Hoe”.
Now, women aren’t to blame for the stigma associated with female pleasure and sexuality. But, if we stop sitting back and let the word “slut” get thrown around, we can try to complicate and challenge the way people think about female sexuality.
And don’t even get me started on the term “walk of shame”….