Do you use the word “slut”?

This week, SexReally is featuring a podcast on that verbal grenade: the word slut.  While I can think of a few more incendiary things to call a woman, this word ranks right up there.  And so I started wondering: do you, Sex Really readers, use the word “slut”?

Back in sixth grade when my friends and I were first testing the boundaries of bad language, the word slut was something of a gateway term for us…we were still a little too scared of bitch and the other, more colorful curse words.  But slut worked just fine in a pinch.  Of course we didn’t give a second thought to what the word actually meant – it just sounded good on the playground.

Now that I’m technically an adult, I occasionally consider the words coming out of my mouth before actually saying them (occasionally.  Not frequently) and, as a result, slut is one of the ones I’ve started to edit out.  Although it started life as a term for a “dirty, untidy, or slovenly woman” and actually has 255 different definitions on UrbanDictionary.com there’s no denying that the 21st century understanding of a slut is a sexually promiscuous female.

Personally, I take issue with the fact that a woman (and not a man) is demeaned because she enjoys sex/ chooses to have sex a lot/ enjoys having sex with multiple partners.  It further frustrates me that it seems that many women use this term against other women, which adds a whole other layer of poison to the word.

But what about you?  Do you feel like using the word slut helps reclaim it for women who embrace sex and their sexuality?  Do you think it’s a hurtful term no matter how it’s used?  Tell me what you think in the comments.

~ Jessica

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