"For Slut's Sake"


The word slut needs to be eradicated from the English language.There is no such thing as a slut. It is a modern mythical label applied in a context that never accurately equates to its atrocious connotation. There are no such things as sluts. There are woman who have a lot of sex, there are women who have indiscriminate sex, there are women who have had sex with many people, there are women who have different kinds of sex, there are women who end up in the sex industry (the majority, for the most undesirable reasons imaginable), there are women who cheat on their partners (they're called cheaters), but there is no slut...only a culture that can't handle any of these scenarios.

Slut is a calculated term meant to shame, wound, demonize, stigmatize and objectify a woman based on a very private and personal part of her life, whether she actively made her own choices or they were imposed upon her. Slut implies dirty, damaged goods, a permanent lifestyle, and identity of trash. There is no such person.

Slut is a lie that says a woman wants to be used up, that she is asking for it, that she wants to be abused, because she has what's coming. Slut is a scapegoat. Slut is for using a woman's sexuality and body against her...and against her will. Slut is a projection from an ill-informed, ill-equipped and just plain ill culture. Slut is who men think they're fucking when they've dehumanized the woman. There is no such thing as a woman who is not human. There is no such thing as a slut or any other excuse for treating women badly based on their sexuality.

Slut does not exist and to buy into something that does not exist makes fools out of all of us.

© Jessica Bahr

Painting by Elisabeth Slettnes

Comments

  1. If someone - guy, girl, it doesn't matter - feels the need to inform you that they're promiscuous, can I call them slut then?

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    1. If someone wants to self-identify as a "slut" that is their choice, although that's not what I am hearing you say. Like many women, I have been called a "slut" and it doesn't feel good. So I would hesitate before calling anyone that myself. I will let Jessica reply herself if she would like to.

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  2. My personal definition of slut is someone who has no respect for their own sexual divinity or the personal sexual institutions of others.
    For example: Someone trying to sexually pursue someone who is in a monogamous relationship. That's a "Slut, please." situation for sure. I also believe "slut" no longer applies only to women; I've found it being commonly directed to males.
    I wish this post was less upset/whinny and more empowering. Eradicating "slut" wouldn't matter because then there's whore, skank, ho, hussy, hooker and so on until the last human took it's last breath. What really needs to be highlighted is how to rise above the words of the world and find peace in your own divinity.
    -Kristen

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    1. I did not find anything remotely upset or whinny about this post so I'd be curious to know what you are referring to Kristen.

      The term "Whore" actually does have a positive root, while slut does not. There is an interesting passage from "Cunt" that I will share here.

      "Cunt" is very arguably the most powerful negative word in the American English language. “Cunt” is the ultimate one-syllable covert verbal weapon any streetwise six-year-old or passing motorist can use against a woman. “Cunt” refers almost exclusively to women, and expresses the utmost rancor.

      “Cunt” is related to words from India, China, Ireland, Rome and Egypt. Such words were either titles of respect for women, priestesses and witches, or derivatives of the names of various goddesses: In ancient writings, the word for “cunt” was synonymous with “woman,” though not in the insulting modern sense.

      The words “bitch” and “whore” have also shared a similar fate in our language. This seemed rather fishy to me. Three words which convey negative meanings about women, specifically, all happen to have once had totally positive associations about women, specifically.” ~inga muscio, cunt: a declaration of independence

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  3. We could use another word, like sex-addict, but would that be any less shameful or derogatory? Maybe. Either way, the words describe conditions that are typically self-destructive. The reason that woman receive the label more than men is rooted in fundamental laws underpinning the psychology of the egg. And for that reason, both men and woman use the term. To deny laws of biology means that it will only reappear in some other form. Once a woman enters a relationship with a man, her life is no longer purely private and personal. And neither would want it that way if they are true to themselves.

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  4. dont you think that the using of all these words is to disempower women and men.i am aware that this artical has only looked at the female aspect of this yet women have done the same to men. i have come to conclusion that name calling is in actual fact another form of cursing and disempower our own divine feminine and divine masculine and a cultural conditioning that need to shift and changes. As what we are experiencing here is an unbalanced feminine and masculine here which effects our own divine feminine and masculine and our own relationship that we share with our own masculine and feminine.

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