VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND THE WORD SLUT SLUT

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND THE WORD “SLUT”

SLUT STEREOTYPE Slut noun 1. an immoral or dissolute woman; prostitute. 2. Obsolete. a dirty, slovenly woman. slut. Dictionary. com. Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. http: //dictionary. reference. com/browse/slut (accessed: March 29, 2014).

THE POWER OF THE WORD SLUT “I was labeled a slut in grade nine. I don’t really know why. Maybe because I developed early and lots of guys flirted with me. I lost all of my girlfriends. They all accused me of trying to sleep with their boyfriends. Guys came on to me all the time. There were all these rumors that I did all these things even though I was still a virgin. They called me dirty. This one guy, older and really attractive took me out one time. Everyone said I slept with him. What really happened was that he tried to sexually assault me and I fought him off. He started a rumor that I wanted it so that no one would know what he did. Because he was hot and popular, everyone believed him. I was so depressed, I felt suicidal at times. I ended up moving schools. ” 1 1. “Labels, ” Yes means Yes, accessed March 29 th, 2014. http: //www. yesmeansyes. com/labels

THE POWER OF THE WORD SLUT Nele “I was called a slut by 3 older girls for wearing a bright shiny pink coat on my way to my piano lesson. My mother sew that coat for me and I refused to wear that coat ever again, feeling shame whenever I saw it. I was 11 or 12…” 2 2. Chrissy. Stockton “ 60 Women on ‘What I was doing when I was called a slut. ’” Thought Catalog. September 24, 2013. http: //thoughtcatalog. com/christinestockton/2013/09/10 -women-on-what-i-was-doing-when-i-was-called-a-slut/

THE POWER OF THE WORD SLUT Why are these women targets? In my paper, I want to analyze the patterns in these stories.

SLUT-SHAMING ‘Slut-shaming’ isn’t about shaming ‘sluts’. It’s about misogyny. It’s about shutting women down. It’s about hating women. It’s about silencing. You can be labeled a ‘slut’ regardless of whether or not you have or like sex. Whether you’ve had one partner or fifty. It’s doesn’t matter. ” 3 Megan Murphy 3. Megan Murphy, “It’s Not ‘Slut-Shaming, ’ It’s Woman Hating, ” Feminist Current, December 7 th, 2012, http: //feministcurrent. com/6845/its-not-slut-shaming-its-woman -hating/

PUBLIC POLICY http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Jfb 9 f 7 y. FYgw National Review’s Mark Steyn: Fluke was demanding that someone “pay for her sex life. ” Dana Loesch: “Fluke was acting like a nympho” and “that she simply cannot stop getting it on and her ability to control her urges constitutes infringing upon everyone else for a bailout. ” 4 4. Hannah, Groch-Begley, “How conservative Media’s Slut-Shaming Helped Inspire a Scientific Study. ”Media Matters for America. March 11, 2014. http: //mediamatters. org/blog/2014/03/11/how-conservative-medias-slutshaming-helped-ins/198432

WHAT IS A SLUT? “If all negative connotations are removed from the word, a “slut” is simply a person, most often a woman, who has sex with multiple partners. ” 5 What is wrong with having more than one sexual partner? Why can’t woman explore their sexuality without being degraded? 5. Tekanji “FAQ: What is “Slut-shaming? ” Finally, a Feminism 101 Blog. April 4, 2010 http: //finallyfeminism 101. wordpress. com/2010/04/04/what-is-slut-shaming/

“ Indeed, as long as gendered slurs like “slut” continue to be weapons casually wielded against girls and women by both people from all walks of life, any female who acts in a way that another person doesn’t like is at risk for being slutshamed. ” 6 How can we create a society where this word no longer has a use? 6. Tekanji. “FAQ: What is “Slut-shaming? ” Finally, a Feminism 101 Blog. April 4, 2010. http: //finallyfeminism 101. wordpress. com/2010/04/04/what-is-slutshaming/