Pink covers the new issue of Glamour Magazine, probably just to promote her current album, The Truth About Love. I’ve liked the songs I’ve heard from this album – I downloaded “Try” and “Blow Me (One Last Kiss)” but I’m not crazy about “Just Give Me A Reason,” the duet she did with Nate Russ (from fun.). I find that song rather cloying, although I do like both artists’ voices. Pink is usually good for an upbeat workout song or the occasional ballad, and I’m glad her album is doing well. Apparently, Glamour asked her why half of the songs on the album were about sex – some highlights:
Why her songs are about sex: “I’m a reformed slut… It’s my very unsophisticated way of taking the power back. I’ve always had an issue with [the idea that] ‘OK, we’ve both decided to do this. Why am I a slut and you’re the player? You didn’t get anything from me that I didn’t get from you.'”
Getting her start by touring with NSync and 98 Degrees: “It was Beatlemania for those boys… I got in trouble for toilet-papering 98 Degrees’ bus. Joey Fatone was in love with me,” Moore recalled. “He took me to Friendly’s on a date, and he bought me an ice cream. Such a sweetheart. He asked my dad’s permission.”
Why she named her daughter Willow Sage: “I love the idea that a willow tree cannot be snapped or broken. And we burn sage all the time. It clears bad energy.”
Her worst day: “Willow and I were at the pool, and I was taking her to nap time. She was walking just a foot in front of me. And she trips and falls and gets a concussion. She passed out. Cut to an ambulance and fire truck. And a CAT scan. She was about a year old. That was the worst day of my life. And what do they say? ‘Kids fall.’ Welcome to parenthood, I thought. I can’t handle this. I’m fitting her for a bubble. Every time she bounced on the bed, I see stitches. Being a parent is a Jedi mind f—. It’s also the raddest thing ever.”
Her relationship with Carey Hart: “Are things ever good? I don’t believe that exists,” Moore said. “Long-term relationships are an everyday choice. It’s harder to be in a marriage than it is to bounce from one relationship to the next. We’re good because we communicate and we’ve grown up together, not because we don’t fight.”
I like “You didn’t get anything from me that I didn’t get from you.” That being said, the movement to “reclaim the slut” seems… I don’t know, dated? It just feels like women have got so much to fight for and about these days, and fighting about the word “slut” doesn’t even make the top ten. Although maybe Pink sees it as part of a larger struggle for women’s rights? Like, the struggle to redefine “slut” is related to how we think of reproductive rights and Rape Culture? Am I overthinking this?
Photos courtesy of Glamour.
The song Slut Like You on her new album is hilarious! Makes a fun kareoke song! My friend had to sing the parts with the F word for me-I’m too shy (not drunk enough).
Always been a fan of Pink.
I like her too, she’s so refreshing. And honest. I hope my future daughters will look up to women like her.
I think shes saying shes a “reformed slut” not “reclaimed”. In other words, she used to be slutty but shes not anymore and shes trying to regain the power she felt she lost in her “slut” years.
That said, I’ve never cared too much for Pink. She trys a little too hard to be masculine and shocking. Plus I think she’d be really annoying to hang out with, and thats what I judge everyone based on obviously. 😉
I like her & her music, but I do think that she’d be exhausting to hang out with! Like I could only handle her in small doses 🙂
She may seem try-hard, but it’s genuine in that she had a rough childhood & made bad choices as a teen. I like that she’s always taken responsibility for her actions & didn’t play the blame game. Lindsey Lohan & others could learn from her.
Not trying to argue with you, dear. I just root for her b/c she has been an underdog, in ways.
🙂
Absolutely! I do applaud her for not playing the blame game like LL does with everything that goes wrong 😉
The whole slut-shaming culture needs to change in general. It really had become an epidemic.
Women have always been shamed for being remotely sexual, while men get to do whatever they want and there isn’t a single derogatory word for them that is connected to promiscuous sexual behavior. It’s not new.
That being said, I feel that many girls shield themselves behind the “slut shame” term and victimize themselves when they’re afraid of being called out for their awful, selfish behavior. Like Farrah Abraham with her porn movie. People side eye her because she’s a teen mom who should be getting an education and a real job, instead of trying to be like Kim K. Nobody is shaming her for having sex. But for resorting to do porn to see if that can make her a celebrity like it did with Kim. Or like when Kristen Stewart was caught cheating and everyone was all “don’t slut shame her!!” Well, she SHOULD be ashamed. Do whatever you want to do, but don’t drag people down with you. The problem is not that you’re having sex, but with who and the all the circumstances. Sometimes crying “slut shame!” is an oversimplification of various issues.
I think Pink is being honest and real here. She calls herself a reformed slut, who grew up and learned to take control of her life. People can defend it all they want, but promiscuous behavior is studied by psychiatrists all the time, and it’s a symptom of various disorders and issues. Morality aside, it’s a sign of something negative going on and it’s self destructive.
Here’s the problem: not everyone has the same definition of promiscuity. The literal definition of promiscuious is having sex with people indiscriminately. In reality, that very definition applies to few people. How many people are there out there who will literally have sex with just anybody? Not many. Some people disagree about what kind of sexual activity constitutes promiscuity. Is it just sexual intercourse? Is it anal sex? Is it oral sex? Is it masturbating another person? Is it all of those things?
To some people, any woman who sees nothing wrong with friends with benefits, threesomes, or a one-night stand is promiscuous and should be ashamed of herself. Why? How do any of those things impact whether or not a woman is a good person? Why do those things have to mean that a woman has no morals? Are morals all about sex?
Then there are other things people are called promiscuous for. To some, a promiscuous person is one who has engaged in sexual activity with ‘many’ different people over the period of their lifetime. So with their logic, a 30, 40, or 50-year-old woman who has engaged in sexual activity with ‘many’ people is to be ashamed of herself.
And that’s another thing- ‘many’. Different people and different cultures have different definitions of how many is ‘many’. Is it 5? Is it 10? Is it 20? Throughout history, some prominent men have, in addition to having wives, had concubines and as a result had many- sometimes very many- sex partners in their life times. In more matriarchal societies, there have been women with male concubines as well. And some have had concubines of both sexes.
And then there’s the time period issue. There are some female celebrities in our society who became famous in their adolescent years and are now in their 20’s, and because they have dated a few guys (as in more than 2 or 3) people call them promiscous and sluts. I’ll use Taylor Swift as an example. She’s 23, became famous when she was 17, and because she has dated at least 6 guys (I’m not sure of the exact number) in her 6 years of fame, some people are calling her a ho.
You said that promiscuity can be a symptom of certain mental illnesses. There’s some truth to this- although sometimes you can’t always go by what certain surveys say, as they only reveal small parts of the global population, and some of these surveys are by conservatives with a sexual repression agenda. They don ‘t always collect data about sexuality in honest, unbiased ways. But just because what we loosely define as promiscuity CAN be a symptom of certain mental illnesses, doesn’t mean that everyone who fits a definition of promiscuity has that mental disorder, or that everyone who has that mental disorder is promiscuous. And even if someone does have a mental illness, is that a valid reason to shame them and call them names? Guess what? for a long time homosexuality (and bisexuality along with it) were viewed as symptoms of mental illness, and to some they still are. Does that justify the ostracism, vilification, or discrimination against people who are gay, lesbian, and bisexual and act on their sexuality?
As for Kristen Stewart and cheating, I do believe that it’s wrong to cheat on your marriage mate/fiance/boyfriend or girlfriend, or to have an affair with somebody when you know that they’re dating, engaged to, or married to another person, regardless of gender. (It’s different if a couple has agreed beforehand to an open relationship, or if a couple likes threesomes). I don’t think it’s wrong to criticize a person who cheats or gets involved in a cheating relationship, but you can criticize them without calling them a gendered slur like slut and whore. Sorry, but those words just have too much of a misogynistic- and sometimes bloody history. EVERY time you call someone- or a group of people- that (in a non-feminist way) you perpetuate all of that history, whether people want to admit it or not. I feel the same way about the ‘n’ word and other racial slurs. Every time you call someone-or a group of people- that, you revive and perpetuate racism, whether you’re white, black, or any other race. Anyone who has done extensive research into our history of demonizing female sexuality- a history that is still very much alive- already knows all of this. And just because a person has cheated/participated in cheating, doesn’t mean they should still be vilified for it by society 5, 10, or more years later. People can change. Also, if a married man has an affair with some woman and you’re going to call someone a homewrecker, that’s fine- as long as you label them BOTH as homewreckers. THEY WERE BOTH EQUAL PARTICIPANTS IN THE AFFAIR AND SHOULD BE JUDGED EQUALLY. I hate that homewrecker is a gendered slur.
To tell you the truth, I’ve had people over the internet tell me that I must be a promiscuous slut, whore, or stripper. It’s not because of my sexual history- I’m 20 years old and have only had sex with one person, my on-again, off-again boyfriend who I have been dating since my senior year of high school. The reason why people say those things about me is because of the views I express about human sexuality, and because I call out slut-shamers and homophobes. Barring incest, bestiality, child molestation, and rape, society has no buisness policing peoples’ sexuality. Cheating is morally wrong too, it’s just not as wrong as those other things I listed and should not be treated as such.
Wow, blaize.
I completely agree with what you have said. It was such a long post, but filled with so much truth, I read the whole thing.
Good thing I did…I can’t believe you are 20 years old and have that great of an understanding of such a complicated issue. Very well said.
@Tiffany: Thank you. I only know about this because I’ve been researching it since I was 15. As I listened to all of the ‘if a woman dresses provocatively, she’s being a skank and is partially responsible if she gets raped’ apolegetics of my Catholic father’s mother and my stepmother, noticed that while male celebrities could get away with skin-baring, dirty-dancing, innuendo in songs, and sexualized roles while the female celebrities were called sluts and bad role models for it, saw the sexual desire and activity of teenage boys accepted as natural while the sexual activity of teenage girls being treated as something bad and our desire treated often as something unnatural, and started coming to terms with the fact that I did have sexual desires, I wanted to know what was going on. I had questions in my head. I just didn’t understand why female sexuality seemed to be some ‘big no no’. Even when I was 11 and I first heard the rape and clothing thing, I disagreed with it. After all, when I was growing up I was alawys taught about responsibility and the fact that a person can’t ‘make’ you do anything. That we’re all responsible for our own actions. When you have that truth drilled into you since kindergarten, and then you hear rape being blamed on revealing clothes for the first time, it doesn’t make sense. Since we’re all responsible for our own actions, blaming a man committing a rape on the clothing a woman wears makes no since. My first thought when I heard the clothing thing was that it wasn’t right, that a person’s clothes couldn’t ‘make’ another person do anything. So I did the same thing I usually do (unless I don’t care) when I don’t get something- I started reading about it. And my eyes were opened. They’re still being opened.
@blaize: Yes times a thousand to your post, I wish there was a “like”-button.
Another celeb who openly admits that marriage isn’t all rainbows and kittens, that it can take work and that work is what can make it all worth it.
Now, will she be slammed for it, like some others?
Probably :/
Were others slammed for it? I like it and find it refreshing to hear. It is true, everything worthwhile takes a little (or a lot) of effort.
I think Annabelle is referring to Ben Affleck’s Oscar comment on his marriage?
My marriage of 8 years has been great, but we wouldn’t be where we are today if we hadn’t worked at it (mainly b/c we have crazy families!)
OK, gotcha. I think people might have found Affleck’s statements a little disingenuous because of his history, but I liked his comments as well.
why would she be slammed, it’s the truth
Honestly I’ve ‘slammed’ others for it because you can see through it, just another ‘look at me!!’ media grab (please see Goop….). Whereas if someone like Pink (who doesn’t call the paps or shell out some persona selling us shit) discusses it, I think it seems less contrived and more genuine.
Good points.
Also, context helps. Discussing it in an interview like this is one thing. Telling your wife she’s hard work while you pick up your Oscar (when a hearty “I love you” would be more celebratory!)… That’s why Ben Affleck got slammed. 🙂
Only men get slammed for their honesty regarding marriage. Women get on the “right on, sister! Now let me tell you about the piece of work I’M married to” bandwagon.
P!nk’s also never played the “perfect wife & mother” card, so she’ll probably escape unscathed.
And that is the truth isn’t it? any relationship takes work and whomever says otherwise is lying. It can be kitties and rainbows all the time and it takes work to persevere through the adversities. I’m glad she’s so straight forward about it and I was glad when BA said it too.
Forever badass!!
God, I really fucking love her. And she’s a far better Virgo than Queen Bey.
Word.
I really love Pink. She’s honest, smart and really talented. I appreciate her talking about how her marriage isn’t perfect, but they communicate and are in it for the long haul. I’m on the fence regarding the slut thing. Overall, It bothers me when we point our fingers and shame others who are adult, and are living their lives. But the exception here is she’s saying this about herself. I guess I’d compare it to me making fun about my own short comings. So it a situation like that, I’m cool with. But I’m not cool with people bullying, embarrassing and shaming one another.
It’s not really our job to reform other people or tell them how to live their lives. People judge women too easily, though some of them might deserve it, it’s still not a fair game because men don’t get judged as much for the same things. But if someone like her, in her position, says that by reforming herself she’s reclaiming control of her life I think it’s a very positive message to girls who are in the position she once was. We’re treating certain sexual behaviors these days as a sign of empowerment and liberation, like being a “slut” is something empowering, but I feel that it’s just another instance in which you’re contributing to sending mixed messages to girls and perhaps intentionally harming them. “More power to you! Be your bad self and be proud!” When in reality, you know that society is still very hypocritical and will gladly treat promiscuous women like they’re trash, which is instigated most times by the men who they were with. I’ve seen so many guys recently TRASH girls they slept with and call them whores because they never slept with them again, or because it was too easy to sleep with them. These are men I know! friends! it made me rage when I saw a friend do that. I called him out on it. And it made me remember to be careful and how certain things are just not worth it. I’ve heard guys say they respect a girl less for sleeping with them too quickly. Why take advantage of it then?
In the end certain behaviors cause more harm than good, and it’s good that people like Pink, who’s been there, and without shaming them, basically tells girls without sugar coating anything that reforming herself gave her control again. You think you’re in control by making some choices, but you actually lose it when you can’t stop getting yourself in trouble or finding people who hurt you.
This is why I SMH when people defend promiscuity to a certain degree. Until we live in a utopic society where your choices are not judged hypocritcally and you can truly be free and feel respected in the end, making certain choices in the society we live in today is definitely self-destructive behavior. Not to mention that promuscuity is linked to various mental health issues, and is always the focus of psychiatric evaluations. In some instances, promiscuous behavior it’s a sign of something troubling.
I hope she doesn’t get shit for what she said. It’s a good message.
I think the message would have come across in a better way if she would have employed the word promiscuous instead of stlut. But oh well…
I heartily agree.
She is just cool as hell- she’s from my hometown!
I am making t-shirts with “Reformed Slut” on them. Probably in crystals… red, don’t you think?
Who would like one?
Me! Me! Me!
Red is my favorite color, and matches my ManKiller Stilettos.
Moi please, I already have a diamante and lace g-string with that on it, I can wear the set together.
I am thinking one of the sleeves should be torn – too much?
Oh definitely a torn sleeve-torn by teeth?
Will it finally make the guys in prison pay attention to me? No touching!
Gosh Chordy, it should. Just to be safe, you could bake them some mini-muffins to pass out – that will get get you noticed for sure!
Pink YOU rock! She can’t do no wrong in my eyes. 🙂
Didn’t Christina quote something along those lines when Fighter came out? Yes, yes, we all get it, women can have random sex too. Generally, it’s not as taboo as it once was. I mean, Sex and the City broke those boundaries years ago. On another note, that dress does nothing for her boobs in the first pic. Sorry Pink, just not a fan. 🙁
I guess I read it wrong. I thought that she was referring to the double standard of men and women when it comes to casual sex. We are the sluts and get shamed for it and men are not. It takes two and two should get what they want out of it and what can come of it in the future.
I think she’s just talking about reforming herself and getting control of her life. While having fun and having sex is part of being young, it stops being so when you go for extreme situations that get you hurt. If you keep doing things that get you hurt, it’s self destructive, and if you can’t stop, you’re losing control and it’s a vicious circle. Most of the times other problems come along with it.
She got her power back by simply taking it down a notch and reclaiming responsibility for herself. I think it’s a really good message. Like it or not it’s the truth. Certain behaviors are just not ok. Screw society and morals. They are not good for YOU.
@ tiffany
I took it the same way you did. i think others are misunderstanding what’s she’s saying.
I remember reading an interview about her talking about accepting a Grammy for Funhouse (think it was a Grammy) and the whole album being about her divorce and her ex-husband… who was her date for that particular award. She made it sound both funny and a bit c’est-la-vie.
Not a fan of her music but enjoy her attitude. She just seems pragmatic and not hung up on her image beyond appearances.
I like her music and I love her viewpoints on life. I love that she is strong and not afraid to speak her mind and seems to think for herself. The world need more Pinks and less so called reality stars who are anything but.
I always think that Pink would be a great drinking buddy.
She would!!! Hell, that would be a blast!
I think she would be if she and Carey were in a good place at that time, and if it was either pre-baby or if her daughter was older. (personal experience…well, not with P!nk lol)
She hit the nail on the head about having kids and how when her daughter jumps on the bed she sees stitches. It seriously is constantly terrifying. I never knew it would be this way. And when I try to relax and not be so paranoid they ALWAYS end up getting hurt.
So true. ALWAYS. It’s ridiculous
I’ve really come to love how she has evolved over the years. I also think her talent s way underrated. She can sing so well!
I sort of consider the word “slut” to be a slur. I know the Riot-Grrrl movement and certain part of the sex-positive movement have tried to reclaim it and God-Bless them for it, but I don’t think it has worked. I think it’s because the word is allegedly about a perceived behavior as well as gender and it’s just been ingrained for so long and there’s just so many variants of it– “Skank” “Whore” “Ho” “Vamp” “Tramp” etc. The whole psychology and theory behind analyzing this sort of thing takes too much thought and analysis and so explaining the idea and the dynamics behind “reclaiming” such a word proves too much to properly reach the general public. It would involve the general public getting over a bunch of our society’s hang-ups about sex and that sort of thing doesn’t seem very likely to happen soon. There’s also the fact that the idea that calling someone a slut or whore is inherently wrong isn’t generally accepted. There are too many apologists out there and the mentality of many people isn’t that it’s a slur against a group of people that is based in bigotry, but that it’s somehow a justified reprimand towards someone for acting in a disgusting manner. “It’s not a sexist slur against women! It’s a word for those bad women that are disgusting enough to have any perceived sort of sexuality! Oh, and I recently called some Dude a man-whore, so it’s not sexist, even though I felt the need to prefix the “whore” part with “man” because you need that sort of specification when it comes to men because whores aren’t men. Yeah, sure, I use words like slut and whore to refer to women almost every other time, but I once called a guy a man-whore, so it’s not sexist.”
I’m sorry, but I think it’s going to take a while before we could really expect to reclaim that word. There are just too many people who enjoy buying into that double standard, think it’s justified, and aren’t ready to think hard enough to realize why that sort of mentality is really bullshit and/or make the commitment to help stop the perpetuation of that mentality. But I do think we should still pursue getting to such a point where we might be able to reclaim that word. And I have seen slightly more momentum in that area in recent years such as with the Slut Walks and such.
totally agree with everything you said – in a culture where sh*t like Steubenville still happens all the time, re-appropriating words like ‘slut’ isn’t gonna change perceptions any time soon.
Pointing out shenanigans when we see it and speaking up loudly about every day sexism is the only way we’ll change anything.
Totally agree with you. You cannot reclaim that word. It’s a slur. It’s meant to hurt and ostracize a group. It’s demeaning. And there isn’t a male equivalent of the word. You can’t take a word like that and turn it “positive”, especially when so many women out there HATE the word and it is still being used so casually to hurt us even if we don’t do anything. You can’t speak for all of us and say we all want to reclaim the word. No, we don’t. That would be like telling the world “Yes, I am a slut! So what?” No, I’m not. I’m a person. I should not be defined like that, especially when not all of us are or act the same or when men don’t have a male word for it. I don’t want to be called that, ever. Not ironically, not jokingly, not in a fit of anger, not while dirty talking. Not ever. It’s a SLUR. A man calls me that and it’s OVER. In my book, he might as well have slapped me across the face. It’s abusing and demeaning to my womanhood. If a girl calls me that I might deal with it a lot better, but if a man does? Forget about it. It’s a major transgresion.
I hate it, hate it, hate it. I SMH when I hear my girlfriends say things like “LOL I’m such a slut!”, “Tonight I’m going to be slutty he he!” Please, don’t. You’re contributing to a culture that looks down on all women for ANY sexual behavior. You’re not helping the cause. Do what you want to do but just don’t use that word, don’t give permission to anyone to call you that, don’t assume we all want to be called that.
I’m still super sensitive about it because one of closest guyfriends, someone I care about, recently called a girl he slept with a “slut” because she never slept with him again and he wanted her to be his girlfriend. He didn’t realize she just wanted it to be a one time thing. He was raging and kept calling her a slut. I had to put him in his place and tell him “You don’t get to be the guy who fucks her and then calls her a whore. She doesn’t owe you love.” Gaaaah. And to think guys present themselves as nice and then do shit like this! Girls need to be more careful. We are dupped so easily.
This comment is so full of win. I have nothing to add but a high five.
Agreed! So many people don’t understand this concept because they haven’t done their research. Calling a guy a manwhore or a male slut does nothing to take the misogyny and prudery out of the slut label.
I’ve never heard the term ‘vamp’ used as a slur though. Every time I’ve heard a woman called a vamp, it’s only been in a positive light to imply that she’s confident and sexy, or that she unabashedly owns her sexuality. Maybe this is because I’m only 20, and the connotation of the word has changed since I’ve been alive. The first time I learned that vamp was a type of slur was when I saw it in the list of slut-shaming words when I read Leora Tanenbaum’s Slut: Growing up female with a bad reputation. Since then, I’ve stopped using it.
That book changed my life.
<3 Pink.
I think the fight over the word slut is very much a white woman’s game. Because the way in which women of color, specifically black women are perceived and what happens to us before, during and after sexual assault doesn’t really have to do with how we dress. In the United States,slavery constructed Black female sexualities. Jim Crow kidnappings, rape and lynchings, gender misrepresentations, and more recently, where the Black female immigrant struggle combine, “slut” has different associations for Black women.
Black women, we do not have the privilege or the space to call ourselves “slut” without validating the historically entrenched ideology what and who the Black woman is. For us the trivialization of rape and the absence of justice are viciously tied to institutionalized ideology about our bodies as sexualized objects of property, as spectacles of sexuality and deviant sexual desire. It is tied to notions about our clothed or unclothed bodies as unable to be raped.
Note: I alot of this is from some black and other WOC academics about their views on the word slut.
Again, so much truth. Completely agreed. And for many women of color, of different races this is true in different ways, contexts and instances.
Women really need to think about this stuff before they come up with idiocy like “Slut pride! Yay!” That is just soooo, ugh… Privileged. It comes from a place of privilege. Calm down. This isn’t the 60’s. The sexual revolution already happened. You still have to be a responsible, accountable person.
I hate the whole movement that wants to ~*reclaim*~ the word. Just don’t. That just such an oversimplification of things.
It does come from privilege. The conversation is an interesting one because facets of it are totally alien to the story I’ve been been watching from the other side. I just don’t see phrases like ‘slut pride’ (or whatever kind of ‘What? Blech.’) or ‘rape culture’ (a term about which I’ve not yet quite sussed out a meaning) on that side of the fence. Sometimes it’s a different world, hm?
Exactly, people love brushing the race angle under the rug. I remember when Eminem made this statement about how he was called out for being a misogynist more than other rappers because he was white and I remember thinking, “Actually, yes, he’s sort of right. Because he was talking about white women in his songs while it is assumed that black rappers were talking about black women— and it isn’t nearly a big a deal to degrade black women as it is to degrade white women in our society.” It’s seriously fucked up. I’ve tried to talk to some of my friends about it because some of my friends, including my BFF, are black and it drives me nuts sometimes to hear how people talk about black women, even in front of them. But I always worry about discussing it to much because I don’t want to sound like some condescending, preachy white person who thinks she knows how black people should act or whatever. There’s already too many of those. But it bothers me when something happens where I hear one friend say in front of my BFF that black women are “skanks” because black women are the group with the highest rate of HIV infection in this country (yes that actually fucking happened and for some reason I seemed to get more pissed off than my BFF. I immediately started arguing with our friend who said this on the basis of the Math— if more black women than men have HIV, it means that it’s the men having multiple partners. He sort of brushed me off and I didn’t want to get into the social stuff in detail because once again— don’t want to be condescending preachy white girl). But it’s okay to degrade women as long as they’re black in this country still, especially when it comes to sex. Its one of the oldest bigotries in existence.
Now I’m mad just thinking about it. I’m going to go listen to Watoto From the Nile to cheer me up.
Love her.
As long as women continue to refer to other women as “sluts” (and its synonyms) and continue to allow men to call women “sluts” (and its synonyms), it should be in the top 5 things for women to fight for and about. That said, I don’t believe that the best way to “take the power” back is to refer to yourself as a slut. How about we just not use that word (or any other word that people use to “take the power back”) at all.
I’ve loved P!nk since “Can’t Take Me Home” and her daughter is adorable.
No, I disagree. I think the word “slut” is problematic. Seems like a lot of these bullied girls get called slut by the boys they had voluntary & involuntary “sex” with and by their female peers. It’s a shitty term with no male equivalent.
Pink is seriously awesome. Love her style and her body and her mind!
I agree but I don’t think this is what pink was talking about. Still, she should refrain from using the word at all.
I hate the word slut. A lot of the teenage girls I see at work will refer to themselves as having been sluts, or being sluts, and they don’t mean in the sense of taking the word’s power back (and I don’t read Pink’s comments as meaning taking the power of the word back, but rather taking her own power back.)
There is still tons of sexual shame around for teenage girls, even those seemingly more street smart. When I hear stuff like that, I try my best to help them see that they are not “slutty” or “damaged goods”. Sometimes sex ed class makes me tear up afterwards.
Aw. Thanks for the work you do.
I agree with Janie, thank you jc.
I’ve been criticized as much for having only had sex with my husband. Pink seems like a great chick! I don’t usually like her kind of music, but her new album at least sounds fun.
I love her so much! That’s a cute story about Joey Fatone as well.
I like her attitude and she’s certainly better than overexposed pageant girl beyawnce, but she’s not a rocker, she’s commercial pop, and you’re not a badass if you’re repping Covergirl for God’s sake; if I want rock i’ll listen to zeppelin, black sabbath, humble pie,etc. but she’s fine to stretch out to.
slut, like the n-word, is a reflection of the person using the word more so than the person who its used about. Someone who uses that word just shows to the world their sexism which unfortunately, is not as taboo as open racism. I wish ppl realized sexism is just as harmful, and girls could dismiss ppl who use this term as ignorant individuals who lack compassion, intelligence, and respect for women.
Go Pink! She’s always been one of my favorite pop stars, and this gives me extra reason to like her. Slut-shaming is misogynistic whether you’re a male or a female and it’s for backward, bigoted prudes who aren’t truly comfortable with human sexuality. It has no place in an open-minded, tolerant society.
P!nk is absolute perfection…just saw her in concert and she is, without a doubt, the most talented performer of our generation!
I want to weigh in on the “slut” thing. Here’s how I feel about it: It’s just a word. It only bears the weight *I* give it. Do I use it? Not as part of my everyday vernacular. WOuld I not use it because it demeans women? No.. because while I agree that lanuage shapes our culture, our culture also shapes our language, and what some find horribly demeaning isn’t such a big deal for others. Slut is such a non-issue for me. So, by the way is “kike”, “Heeb”, “Christ-Killer”, “Sheeny”, “Mock” and whatever other slur for Jew one can think of. ANd I have been called them all- and so? Is it gross? Sure. Is it in bad taste? Yeah. Does it diminish me? Not a bit. Because I get to decide who hurts my feelings. If some a$$hole calls me a slut, it only hurts if I let it. Personally I’d much rather be ‘called out’ for a generality or circumstance of my birth than for something that really matters- it would chap my ass to be called “boring” or “weak”- but again, only if the person calling me so were a person whose opinion I valued. Because I decide. I understand why some women find it insulting, but *I* don’t. I don’t care. Thought is not made manifest, word is not made flesh, and I’m not any certain thing just because someone says I am. (for good or for ill.)
wow, that’s awesome, that you don’t take people’s words to heart. i wish i didn’t . i let people’s words affect me too much. *sigh* working on it *sigh*
I think Pink was saying that it is not right for people to call a woman a slut when she’s doing the same thing a man is. She’s not saying she’s sorry for being what is referred to as a slut. She’s saying she was formerly promiscious (commonly known as a slut) and that women shouldn’t be judged for doing what men are doing. she’s not apologizing for her past behavior. people are taking her statement wrong.
I think Pink was calling out the double standard where a woman is shamed for having sex but the man she had sex with, he gets to brag. WTF is up with that?
Regarding the word “slut” i think reclaiming it is problematic but MIGHT be possible if it could be turned into a gender-neutral word. Like how Michael K calls himself a slut. On an episode of Big Bang Theory Penny called Leonard a slut. There is no “man-” preface.
And some peeps here don’t know what rape culture is.
http://yesmeansyesblog.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/this-is-what-rape-culture-looks-like/
“Slut” is a slur constantly used against rape victims. it’s an excuse, a “she asked for it” bunch of BS. So yea, it might not be possible to reclaim it. We first have to take rape seriously, stop blaming the victim, disconnect the word “slut” from victim-blaming, and then make “slut” a gender-neutral word.
I understand that the Slutwalk campaign is trying to reclaim sexuality, and draw attention to the doublestandard, but I really don’t think it helps. It actually shores up the patriachal notion that what a woman wears is, in some way, relevant to her rape. Sexual violence isn’t about sex – it’s about power.
I know that’s slightly OT, but it is the other strand of the ‘slut reclamation’ argument, and I think it’s really important.