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THE TERM ‘SLUT’ SHOULD NOT MAKE YOU SHAMED
Slate blogger argues for the true definition of the word ‘slut’ to be used by women, saying they should not be sidetracked by red herring conservatives focusing the debate on contraception vs promiscuity.
“Slut used to be (and in many cases still is) a derogatory term for a woman who sleeps around. When sex-positive feminists began reclaiming that term, they embraced its definition but rejected its negative connotation. The message of this reclamation was that the number of sexual partners a woman has and the kinds of sex acts she consents to have absolutely no bearing on her worth or respectability as a human being. In particular, the reclamation of slut was meant to fight the notion that a promiscuous woman couldn’t be raped.” Interesting reading. What do you think?
Here’s what else is making buzz:
1. If you missed it yesterday, mining magnate and multi-billionaire Clive Palmer announced he will run for Federal Politics against Treasurer Wayne Swane in Queensland. Somewhat incongruously, he also announced he would build the Titanic II replica for his luxury cruise line (which doesn’t yet exist). Definitely sure there is no symbolism to be found in there. Definitely.
The boat will be built in China, not Ireland, and will apparently set sail in 2016 with all the modern technology that should help it avoid any troubles. But Clive Palmer helpfully pointed out: “Of course it will sink if you put a hole in it.”
2. Remember all those rumours Beyonce wasn’t really pregnant? Well, she told People Magazine they were ‘just crazy’. But she made no mention of how authentic the moon landing was, so feel free to keep on about that.
3. We’re digging this gallery of celebs without make-up. Just because.
Marion Cotillard
4. A Californian man is suing BMW because he claims the motorcycle seat on his road bike left him with a long-lasting erection which has made him impotent. He blames a certain ridge on the seat. He is suing for damages, including medical costs.
5. The ABC has ‘unreservedly’ apologised to the first husband of Ita Buttrose, Alasdair Macdonald, whom it portrayed as fleeing the relationship and their young daughter while Ita was pregnant with their second child on its hit docu-drama Paper Giants. “In marriage, the worst thing a husband can be accused of is deserting his wife while she is pregnant, and in my case, deserting my wife and young daughter at that time, especially if it is not true,” Mr Macdonald said. The two parties settled for an unknown sum out of court.
6. Oh, and if you love The Voice as much as we do we’ve asked Em Rusciano to be our official correspondent. Go here for all the action.
Comments
40 Comments so far
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Whilst Labor has made some monumental blunders in recent times, the announcement by Clive Palmer that he would like to run for Parliament for the LNP is a further indication that they can’t be trusted.
Palmer and his fellow billionaires are too influential as it is and the first thing they will push the coalition to pass workchoices mark 2 to further increase the gap between rich and the rest of us.
Palmer and his cronies need to share the wealth they are accumulating at a rapid rate.
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Truely saddened about the news that Brisbane woman Alison Baden-Clay’s body has been found i hope that killer is found and is bought to justice.
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Okay so this piece on Sluts and the subsequent comments it produced was evocative enough to make me finally sign up just so I could comment. Kudos Mama Mia.
As someone who was called a slut for too many years as a derogatory term, I prickle whenever I hear the word being used casually or when people use it flippantly or ‘proudly’. I am all for being-who-you are-each-to-their-own-I am woman-hear-me-roar blah blah blah etc etc , but the term ‘Slut’ is never going to be a word I can get on board with.
Slut to me will always have a negative connotation no matter how hard I try to ‘take it back’. I was 10 when I was first called a slut. 10 years old. When you’re that age, words are powerful weapons and this word was yielded with all the finesse of someone wielding a meat cleaver. Half the people that used it didn’t even know what it meant –they only knew that it was a bad word and that you only used it on people that you considered really bad. A quick look in the dictionary later and now armed with the correct definition, it was used with even greater delight and ferocity by my tormentors. That nickname stuck with me for 3 years before I finally escaped to high school where, mercifully, no one knew my background so no one even thought to call me a slut.
I was 10. What could possibly give anyone cause to call me a slut you might ask? I was sexually assaulted by a fellow student and he bragged to everyone that he got to touch me therefore, I was easy, hence: slut. (He conveniently left out the part where I screamed at him to stop and fought him so violently that to this day I don’t know if he can have children after a well-placed kick left him howling like a banshee)
Don’t get me wrong, the notion behind the reclamation is admirable. But there are just some words that can never, and will never, be able to be “reclaimed”. Maybe that’s just my negative experience clouding my judgement but I will NEVER let anyone call me a slut again, in jest, as a term of affection or as a statement of my freedom to be an openly sexual human being.
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Lily Collins is stunning!
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How is it even relevant to others how many people you’ve had sex with? The number shouldn’t be an issue.
You could have had sex with 100 people on one night stands or 1 person 100 times – if it happens between consenting adults then it’s got nothing to do with anyone else
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As long as its safe sex. Unsafe sex leading to sexually transmitted diseases is one of the main causes of infertility, so while I agree with you, it is also extremely important for young girls out there to remember a few one night stands here and there without protection could mean not being able to have a baby later in life.
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Everyone I know who’s gotten an STD has gotten it from a long term partner. I think most people know to use protection for one night stands, flings etc., but many don’t think to get tested before they stop using condoms with a boyfriend/girlfriend.
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I grew up in the grim reaper generation so yes for people my age that can be true, but I think younger people arent really that aware the same issues. I have read that teenagers and early 20′s are the least likely to be safe.
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I am 23 and the safe sex message has been slammed home to me for as long as I can remember.
‘No glove no love” or my personal favourite “If it’s not on, it’s not on”!
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Just wanted to say that STDs are not the main cause of infertility at all. I agree that it can be a risk factor, but certainly not the main cause. I am a member of a large and very open infertility forum and not one woman on there has said her infertility is due to a STD. I’m sure there may be a tiny percentage that it may be the case and they are too embarrassed to acknowledge it, but not the main cause by a long shot.
Still a great idea for young girls to realise what the consequences may be though.
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I cannot get past the photo of the woman with the proud slut sign it just looks like she has mis-spelt SUIT!!
But then we should all be proud of our suits too right!?
xxpt
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That was my first thought too!
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I have no issue with the term slut. Use it frequently. I was quite slutty pre big fella and it was fabulous fun
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Hehe, me too!
Why should i miss out on sex just because I’m single? As long as a woman
is doing it for herself and not to impress a bloke (or woman) who cares?
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“The message of this reclamation was that the number of sexual partners a woman has and the kinds of sex acts she consents to have absolutely no bearing on her worth or respectability as a human being.”
Except for the bit where the ‘sex positives’ judge women who have too *few* partners.
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oooh agree! My “slutty” friends (their words, not mine) always rag on me about having only had sex with one person but then get annoyed if people call them a slut.
As if it matters anyway!
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A great tweet yesterday….no need for Clive Palmer to build the Titanic – Julia Gillard already has….and we’re all on it.
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My kids and I always got a laugh out of the classic line from the film “Practical Magic” when the women are sitting around talking about their great grandmother’s sex life and their own …
“Since when has it been a crime to be a slut in this family?”
Love that attitude
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I think I am the only person not watching The Voice. Could not think of anything worse.
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Not the only one Clare : )
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You’re not alone, I hate all of those kinds of shows! They slaughter music and I would rather watch ABC kids.
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Definitely not alone!!!
The Voice, AGT, DWTS, The Block… would rather be on the maiden voyage of Clive Palmers Titanic II.
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I’m not a fan either. Would rather stick pins in my eyes. Must say that I did appreciate the abridged version shown on this site. You get the singing minus the “what the contestant ate for breakfast” moments and the “judges preening themselves to death” segments that always cause the show to run twenty minutes overtime.
If it’s a choice of a reality show or “Coronation Street”, the soapie wins hands down.
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It’s cramming my Twitter feed
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I’m with you too Clare. Hate all those shows and the fanatical gushing over this team or that because So-And-So is so lovely…when no one watching the shows actually has a clue what they are really like…only what image they choose to project.
All so fake, overdone and boring. Give me Game of Thrones, Mad Men or something different over rehashed talent shows anyday.
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Nope, not watching either. Last night The Voice, Australia’s Got Talent and The Block were on. SNORE!
Although I am looking forward to checking out Masterchef. Even though I don’t really have time to watch it and shouldn’t be getting sucked in!
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I’m really surprised the ABC, with all its legal advice, thought it could get away with that depiction of Ita’s former husband. That’s basic media law yes?
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Yay, Mamamia’s posting about slut shaming! It’s a terrible thing, and I honestly think we need to be teaching women, young and old, that it’s not ok. I’m only 20 and honestly don’t understand why my sex life has anything to do with anyone else?! A woman is not deifned by her clothes, her physical appearance or who she sleeps with and how often!
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Wayne Swan is my member of Parliament. I see him and his wife walking their dog quite often, and if I run into them at the coffee shop he remembers my childrens’ names and asks after my mum.
Clive Palmer? Never seen him.
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I saw him at QandA filming Thursday night. Not even a whiff of the Titanic announcement. I’m not sure who is advising him on media but he should have broken those announcements up!
Two front page stories dropped on the same day? Clive Facepalmer.
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He’s my member, too, but I’ve never seen him. Nice to hear he still gets out in the community!
I’ll admit I’m not a fan of Swan, but I would sooner chew off my own arm than vote for Palmer.
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We live in the same electorate ! But obviously different parts of the electorate. The only time we see him is when he stands in front of the local shopping centre to make a pronouncement for the TV news cameras. Won’t tell you what a number of the local business people in the area think of him.
I will be voting LNP in the next election and sincerely hope that preselection is given to the guy who ran last time. I’ll vote for Palmer if he is the candidate, but I will do so under severe sufferance.
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Oh crap. I should have read the news more closely; I didn’t realise he was going for LNP preselection, I thought he was looking at being independent.
My arm may be back on the menu.
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I live there too. I have had two points of contact with Mr Swan.
1. He came to his son’s football games as my son was in the same team as his.
2. A copy of a letter from him to my former husband was presented to the Child Support Agency as evidence that the Child Support Agency had problems and my former husband was right to object to paying child support.
Not a fan.
As is the randomness of life, Clive Palmer was a sometimes visitor to my family of origin’s home for a few years when he was a year 12 student at school and after he left school. At the tender age of 14, I thought he was painful, intrusive, illogical, self-absorbed and loud. I tended to avoid him when I could. I think that I picked it pretty well
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Titanic 2 has already been done and it was the worst film I’ve ever seen in my lfe.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1640571/
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Newspoll has coalition ahead 59-41 2pp with a 51% primary vote. Highest primary vote for coalition since 2001. why do you guys only ever report political polling when labor improves?
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Because political polling is boring. I can’t remember the last time I even mentioned it! Unless it was for a specific issue. But did we really need a poll to tell us this?
PS: I should add, in the recent climate news is what is surprising. A Labor improvement is indeed against the odds
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Phil Collins is singing about this !
Go Phil !
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“Newspoll was established in 1985 as a joint venture between News Limited and Yann Campbell Hoare Wheeler.”
News Limited owned pollster….I wonder who they are asking? News Limited readers? Polls can be skewed. I don’t trust polls associated with a media organisation. And this includes Fairfax too, or Channel 7, or ABC. You just get the views of the kind of people who follow that type of media.
I don’t doubt Labor are on the nose but lets hear what a media unaffiliated poll has to say.
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