Ten reasons not to use the word sl*t

Legs. Source: Awesome Jelly

If you’re reading my blog, I am probably preaching to the choir, but here goes, ten reasons not to call anyone a slut.

1. It implies sex is bad – and hello, everyone knows the opposite is true! (hat tip to asexuals who might not enjoy sex at all)
2. It implies there is something wrong with the victim of this abuse, and they must change.
3. It implies you are a God-like judger who knows how someone ‘should’ appropriately behave.
4. It shows a lack of respect and caring for the person.
5. In insulting one woman, you are putting down women as a gender, by telling them that she does not have autonomy to choose for herself what she does with her own body, neither then, should any woman.
6. It contributes to rape culture. I’m not saying everyone who has used this word ever is a rapist, of course not! But what I am saying is this violent language is in the ballpark of ‘she was gagging for it,’ ‘I would hit that’, ‘no means yes’ language. Using the ‘s’ word is a stone’s throw away from making rape a more accessible means of violence. The same way amtssprache made killing easier for the Nazis. Language like this similarly dehumanises people, and makes violence easy. And beings one in three women in America will be either beaten or raped this year, I’d say it’s a good reason to stop.
7. You’re not being accurate. If you call someone a slut, chances are it has nothing to do with their sexual experience. This shows there are complex reasons why you might want to say what you’re saying – what is it that you’re really getting at? What are you really upset about?
8. It’s classist. The girls using it in sororities use it to put down the other girls who are poorer than them; they don’t dance in a way that they would like (or have as much money as they would like).
9. It shows that women are making leaps and bounds in terms of freedom and equality. There is a direct correlation with the amount of slut shaming in relation to a movement of free speech and women’s rights. The suffragettes were, apparently, total sl*ts!
10. You can break a young girl down and get her to question herself, her place in  the world, to feel like she has to live up to other’s expectations, that she is never good enough, and even, sadly, to feel that she is sexually ‘broken’.

So, there you have it, ten reasons not to use the ‘s’ word anymore- ever again. If you have to – try saying the ‘s’ word or putting in a star the way we would for n****r. Distinguishing the difference between saying the word and alluding to it shows that it is harmful – and shows that we are moving forward in terms of what we all, deem to be an acceptable way to treat each other in society.

What do you think? Are there any reasons that I’ve missed? Please let me know in the comments.

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