SlutWalks: What actually makes a woman a slut?

By Natalia

 

I am sure everyone has heard the term ‘slut’, ‘whore’ ‘jezebel, ‘hookah’ and ‘prostitute’ – but what actually makes a woman a slut?

Is it the way she dresses? Is it the way she walks and talks? Is it how she carries herself? Or is it because she simply chooses to have sex casually and regularly?

According to research published in the Guardian (2014) slut-shaming is more to do with a woman’s social class than sexual activity; though other articles published by the Guardian (2014) stipulates that a woman is simply called a slut because she is a female, but how far are these statements true?

Who gets called a slut?

You might think that a slut is a woman who has an “active sex life with many sexual partners”- if you go by the Oxford Dictionary definition, however, you could be wrong. According to researchers Elizabeth Armstrong and Laura Hamilton of the University of Michigan, the label is actually gaining currency as an insult that divides women on the basis of class.

But it doesn’t stop there; Jessie Klein, an author of “The Bully Society,” writes that girls need help in building trusting relationships particularly in high school.

She highlights that girls in schools get called ‘slut’ all the time and it’s because of various factors including social isolation, bullying, depression and anxiety.

In her book, she gives examples of teenage girls who have taken their own lives because of being called a ‘slut’.

The above information indicates that women from all ages and classes can be called ‘sluts’ but why are they called such derogatory names?

Why do women get called a slut?

I recently read a blog post titled ’60 Women: What I was doing when I was called a slut’ and some of their responses were outrageous! Here are a few of them:

Sarah

I walked down the street in a hot pink turtleneck dress. I was also simultaneously called a faggot by a bunch of college-age-seeming dudes in down vests.

Erin

I got called a slut because my ex-boyfriend started a rumour about me sleeping with his friend. He did it to cover up his tracks since he was a controlling and abusive scumbag and didn’t want anyone to find out. So he attempted to make me look bad. All but one person believed him.

Corrine

I was called a slut by my own grandmother when I was 12 because I wore a swimsuit in which my cleavage showed (my breasts came in earlier than most girls). Let’s just say, we didn’t have the greatest relationship after that. She was also an alcoholic and a racist, so no complaints from me!

 

The mere existence of this word creates a reality in which women and men can never be equal.

When we stop judging everyone else so harshly and just let them be happy, maybe we will all get more of what we want. Tolerance.

 

Walk of no shame 

Amber Rose, an actress and model who gained fame during her relationships with rappers Kanye West and Wiz Khalifa, spoke out against degrading comments made by her ex during the “SlutWalk” in Los Angeles in November last year. West had publicly said that his relationship with Rose impacted his dating life due to her past; being a teenage stripper.

 

 

“I used to call women sluts and whores all the time. Because that’s what society taught me: that it was OK and that it was what I was supposed to be doing, but I grew up, and I have seen these issues, and I have become very passionate about it. I am a former slut shamer and a newfound feminist.” (Amber Rose for Guardian )

 

Slut Walk Movement was originally underway in Toronto in response to a police officer’s comment telling a group of colleague women, after a number of sexual assaults at the campus, that in order to not be victimised they should stop dressing like sluts.

 

Interpretation of the word “slut” changes depending on the personal circumstances and it has been clearly overused in today’s society. Where are limits when it comes to calling a woman a slut?

What is your opinion in regards to the message that women do not deserve to be judged based on how they dressed?

Do you support the idea of “Walk with no shame”?