This week’s Slate DoubleX Gabfest discussed how Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown Law Student who was called a “slut” by Rush Limbaugh, might be “the new standard bearer for sex-positive feminism.”
In the podcast, the notion of taking back the word slut is mentioned, much the same way the homosexual community has taken back the word queer or parts of the African American community have taken back the N word.
But this line of reasoning is flawed and stupid. I can’t tell you how much it annoyed me.
The homosexual community was able to take back queer because at worst, queer means “odd or different.” The definition of the word is not a problem for the gay community because it does not possess any strong negative connotations. In many ways, the actual definition of the word has ceased to matter to the gay community. The word queer had become a signifier for gay (this definition can actually be found in the dictionary), so taking it back merely meant stripping the word of its negativity without any need to change the word’s actual meaning.
Taking back the N word was similar. Though it is so vile that I hesitate to use it on this blog, the word, by pure definition, is a derogatory signifier for a specific race of race of people. It is hateful and offensive, but it has no other meaning other than to signify African Americans. Taking back the word did not require the African American community to change the definition of the word. They only needed to strip the word of its negative connotation.
But the word slut has a definition, and it is not a good one. A slut is “a slovenly or promiscuous woman.”
Synonyms for the word include trollop, strumpet, harlot and streetwalker.
This is not a mere signifier of the word woman, nor does it describe a woman who uses birth control regularly (as Limbaugh implied) or engages in regular sex. Instead, it describes a person (usually a woman but not always) who lacks discrimination and/or judgment when choosing sexual partners. It speaks to a person’s standards for choosing a sexual partner and the number of sexual partners. Taking back the word slut not only means stripping the word of a negative connotation but also changing the definition as well.
Doing so would be akin to bald men taking back the word bald or short women taking back the word short. These words have have actual definitions. They describe a specific type of person in the same way that the word slut describes a specific type of behavior.
Slut is a word that possesses negative connotations because it describes behavior that is generally considered less than admirable. No one stole the word for nefarious purposes. It is and always has been a signifier for a person who has sex with a large number of people absent any thought or consideration.
In this way, it is actually a rather useful word. It effectively describes a type of person. Though it is often used pejoratively, that does not make the word vile or offensive, unless you are an idiot like Rush Limbaugh.
As the father of a three-year old girl, I would prefer that she grow up in a world where slut has not been taken back for the sake of feminism.
Seriously. We don’t need it.
Jessica Gross, one of the podcast hosts, describes a time in middle school when she and her friends would jokingly refer to one another as sluts, unaware of what the word even meant.
I’d prefer that my daughter grow up without anyone calling her a slut, in jest or otherwise.
