Driving to work today I heard on the radio, clearly my only sense of mobile news while my iPhone containing my Twitter feed is safely tucked away to resist temptation…. Any way, P!nk told Glamour Magazine that she is a “reformed slut.” It’s her “unsophisticated way of taking my power back.” P!nk has always, in my eyes been a woman of strength with a no-bullshit attitude who takes risks. All-in-all, I’m a fan.
Photo by Ellen Von Unwerth.
First, let me say I understand what she was “Try”ing to do. She is aiming to give the “slut” stigma a good ‘ol drop kick and subside the double standard that exists when men and women do a casual sheet dance. Why is it that men are labeled as “the man,” “player” or even “stud” all of which have a positive definition while women are labeled as “slut,” “whore,” and any fill in the blank derogatory label here? Using the phrase she did is clearly garnering a lot of attention by being so P!nkly put.
What really got me fuming was while I was on lunch today we have the ladies of The Talk (CBS) coming through the wall-mounted TV. They were babbling on about their Emmy nominations, which proceeded to have the cue card holders’ arms fall off because of the straight 5 minutes of applause that was required in the opening segment. The ladies then with a lack of finesse moved into a discussion about P!nk’s statement.
Host Aisha Tyler mentioned that she actually uses the word to squash the societal stigma and “take it away” from men using it. Host Julie Chen agreed and tries to flip the script by using it to describe men’s sexual promiscuity as “slutty.” I’m sorry, but using the word in any size, shape, connotation, or WHATever makes it seem OK for others to continue using it. The way Julie and Aisha are using the word seems comfortable, comfortable enough to use it. Sorry ladies, not the right approach. Just.don’t.use.it. Period.