EDIT: I have calmed down a bit since I wrote this, and I do think it's maybe a little harsh. The last thing I want is an Internet fight with NGTM-1R, who is pretty cool. So yeah, let's not escalate this too far - if necessary we can split off into our own little thread and settle things peaceable-like. (I think I am probably going to startle NGTM-1R with my somewhat heated reaction to one dubiously offensive sentence.)
Frankly, slut as I hear it used, and use it myself, is a gender-neutral term and can be applied to males with the same ease as it can be applied to females, where if anything it's harsher on the male because of the traditional useage of the word to describe a female possibly calling their masculinity into question with those who don't use the word the same way.
I work in a psychology lab. Implicit association tests prove that 'slut' is archetypically considered female by a statistically significant majority of people. It requires an active conscious effort to redefine it to mean something positive. The default is negative.
There have been attempts by several subcultures and books in recent years to reclaim the world slut to mean a sex-positive person. However, they have been largely unsuccessful because 'slut' carries with it ancient connotations (going back to medieval England, I believe) of dirtiness and unkemptness, particularly in a sexual sense.
Nice try, NGTM-1R, but no.
Which brings me to my other point. The connations the audience attaches are beyond the control of the person using the word, and therefore judging the person actually using the word on what the audience thinks is grossly unfair unless they knew in advance that their audience does not connote the same things to it.
Right, because social context doesn't matter. And I can call a black person a nigger, because to me, it means 'friend who shares social status'. After all, we shouldn't judge the person actually using the word on what the audience thinks.
Nice try, NGTM-1R, but no.
And also, at this point, I should note that the average useage of slut around here is not even necessarily insulting to someone, as the positive connotations mentioned for "player" below have caught up with the word and the implications of calling someone a slut now are almost totally dependent on the tone of voice you were using; I hear it used in an admiring fashion, as compliment about sexual prowess or even one's powers of persuasion, about as often as I hear it used in a derogatory fashion.
I admit, to my shame, you've made me a bit mad. In some idiolects 'slut' can take on positive connotations. But it is
not by any means a broadly positive term. Nor do your experiences reflect a shift in the world at large.
Please consider carefully the following scenarios:
A woman is called a slut by several men at a corporate party.
A high school girl is called a slut by her ex-boyfriend.
Two women in a restaurant call another woman a slut.
These are all common instances of 'slut' being used as a negative term. And, unfortunately, they far outnumber the positives.
It is important to remember that insult is in the eye of the beholder.
Nice try, NGTM-1R, but no.
In short: Nice try Rian, but no.
Now, see, this is why you pissed me off. You had some decent arguments that led into an interesting topic -- the reclamation of negative terms by sex-positive feminists. But then you had to conclude it with a patronizing, paternalistic, brusque dismissal that suggests the original arguer doesn't have the wit to understand your argument and simply needs to be told she's wrong. You act as if you're in a position to simply dismiss years of desperate struggle for social equality because 'things have changed'.
Nice.
That said, having vented, I'm not Internet-mad any more. But you have to realize that acting like that can really ruin people's days, especially when people have to face harassment in their day-to-day lives. I think you'll probably agree that being demeaned, even on the webernets, isn't pleasant.
A friend of mine has a 1.5TB hard drive.
Onward to the petabyte!
