The 'S' word

Posted at 12:06 PM on May 9, 2011 by Bob Collins (9 Comments)
Filed under: Crime and Justice

"Gay culture reclaimed the word 'queer'," a protester has told the BBC. "It is about picking these words up and using them with pride."

What's the word she's trying to reclaim? "Slut."

The movement started at an anti-sexual-assault forum on a school campus in Toronto when a public safety officer reportedly advised women in the audience "not to dress like 'sluts.'"

This, of course, is the 2011 version of a decades-old rationale for sexual violence against women: "Just look what she was wearing."

"The problem with the word slut is that it has cut women off because they have an energy around their sexual desires and we are still so prejudiced about this. But if we reclaim the word, it simply becomes an issue of 'so what?'," a psychoanalyst told the BBC.

A group has formed to organize "SlutWalks" in Canada amd the U.S. Dozens of U.S. cities will host the walks. None is planned for Minnesota, according to the group's Web site.

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Comments (9)

Yikes! I'm glad I wasn't born a woman. It's tough ENOUGH being a man :-)

Rape, of course, is primarily a crime of violence. The product of a frustrated, sick mind.

And we live in a society that glorifies violence,
and while it represses "healthy" sexuality (you say tomato, I say tomato), it over-sexualizes young girls, be it through young pop stars pole dancing or retail outlets selling make-up and push-up bras for children.

The semantics issue regarding the use of the word "slut" is another level of abstraction.

Many men want a woman to be a "slut" in bed (unless they prefer the "dress up like a nun" kinda thing), but not at the dinner table, and daughters, never. ( Personally, I'm not gonna let my 10yr old leave the house until she's 30).

Just as I believe that individual black people should have the right to determine when and who and who can say "nigger",

it would make sense that individual women should be the ones who determine when and who can say "slut".

But the Gods gave us brains to understand context, and apostrophes to put around disagreeable words when used in print,

so please don't start using "s-word" for "slut",
or don't hold me responsible if I start beating the other S-word out of F-wording journalists who don't have the B-words to maintain their professional integrity and not succumb to the politically correct language Nazis. :-)

Posted by Jim Shapiro | May 9, 2011 2:24 PM

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Jim invoked Godwin's law pretty early. :)

Posted by BJ | May 9, 2011 3:17 PM

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Dear BJ -

Thanks! For the heads up, and the new law! (Bob, is it to late to change it to "language jihadists" ?!?) :-)

Posted by Jim Shapiro | May 9, 2011 3:32 PM

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When I saw the headline “The ‘S’ Word”, I fully expected a story about yet another STADIUM proposal. Now that’s an ‘S’ word I’d like to stop hearing.

Posted by tboom | May 9, 2011 4:28 PM

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another product of a frustrated sick mind is one that blames society for thinking that prepubescent girls playing dressing up and acting like adults, role models, or popstars is sexual, or "oversexual" in some way. barf. get a grip. decorating or not decorating you body how you see fit at any age does not necessarily correlate to your sexuality. i'm glad i was born a woman so i don't ever confuse my brain with some other body part and see the world like men sometimes do.

Posted by rebecca | May 9, 2011 4:51 PM

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Dear rebecca -

"i'm glad i was born a woman so i don't ever confuse my brain with some other body part and see the world like men sometimes do."

Touche'.

As for the rest: How old are you? 12? Your parents have my sympathy. :-)

Posted by Jim Shapiro | May 9, 2011 5:13 PM

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I'm a big fan of Godwin's law.

Also, there's a story in the NYT today that pretty much sums up the point of the walks:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/3fkwft8

Posted by Heather | May 9, 2011 5:19 PM

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Dear Heather -

Thanks for the link.

Today's the first time I've ever heard of Godwin's law. Being an info junkie, I found this, straight from the Law Giver himself:

"Although deliberately framed as if it were a law of nature or of mathematics, its purpose has always been rhetorical and pedagogical: I wanted folks who glibly compared someone else to Hitler or to Nazis to think a bit harder about the Holocaust."

As a half Jew, I was raised to think "harder about the Holocaust."

My use of the term as a mode of comparison was learned from an old episode of Seinfeld (ever see "The Soup Nazi"?), and is an attempt at humor, as opposed to Rush "The Big Fat Idiot" Limbaugh's disparaging use (eg "femi-nazi).

I lost relatives in the camps, and it doesn't bother me if people want to use "Hitler" or "Nazi" unless the comparison is done seriously and is so absurd as to be laughable.

In that case, what bothers me is not so much the inaccurate use of the term, but the poor use of language.

No one should worry. Jews will never let the world forget about the holocaust. :-)

Posted by Jim Shapiro | May 9, 2011 7:26 PM

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Saying it again. At News Cut, feel free to comment on an issue. If you find yourself straying into commenting on other commenters, delete your comment before I do.

Posted by Bob Collins | May 9, 2011 7:39 PM

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