2017 should be the year we ban the word ‘slut’

It’s outdated and derogatory

After the chaos and uncertainty of 2016, 2017 needs to be the year of change. The Women’s March on Washington, occurring on January 21st, shows exactly how desperately women need to band together and stand up against oppression in the coming year. As we all have spent the last week creating and refining our New Year’s resolutions, we need to look to what we can do, collectively, to further women’s empowerment.

2017 needs to be the year we ban “slut” and its counterparts from our vocabulary.

Growing up, I was the first girl of my friend group to really gain an interest in boys and relationships. In 5th grade, I had my first boyfriend. Exactly four years later, during my freshman year of high school, I had my first kiss. And four years after that, I had my first true love. Each was with a different guy.

While I never thought of my early interest in boys to be peculiar, but rather a natural progression of my extrovert personality, I quickly found myself being labelled as and treated like “the slut” of my group of friends.

At first, this didn’t phase me. In fact, I played into it. Like any teenage girl, I was happy to get attention. Especially if it meant that people were interested in my looks.

Yet over time, this word took its toll on me. I felt pressured to define myself almost solely by the guy I was with. I lost the spark of my extrovert personality, no longer wishing date, because it felt like the guys I surrounded myself with didn’t want to genuinely get to know me.

Not to mention how guilty I felt after any remotely sexual interaction I had with a guy. The words “you’re such a slut” would ring in my head for hours.

For millennials especially, “hookup culture” often dominates the college dating scene, with both genders participating. Young women now have role models like Ariana Grande who are confident and expressive in their sexuality. Apps such as Tinder and Bumble make it easy for women to connect with and meet multiple men.

In a world of normalized, up-front sexuality and constant social interaction, why do we still find it okay to use words like slut?

Frankly, the term is outdated and derogatory.

We need to stop saying it — even teasingly in group chats after one of our friends hooks up with her third guy this week. We need to stop saying it about the girl at party who always has a man by her side. We need to stop saying it when our friends rebounds after a tough breakup.

Most importantly, however, we need to stand up for anyone being called a slut.

Source: Urban Dictionary

If women do not do our part to ban the word from daily speech, we will only perpetuate its usage by men against women. We cannot stand for 2017 to be a continuation of normalized, sexist headlines, or a year where the number of men a girl has been with determines her worth.

New year. New you. New vocabulary.

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Bucknell University