Friday, December 21, 2007

What Constitutes A Slut?

I have was a having conversation recently about the news of Jamie Lynn Spears, Britney's lil sister being pregnant and all the disdain and disgust from it and noticed how quickly people are to judge and label others, particularly celebrities. Specifically, labeling people as sluts and whores and it got me thinking; what really constitutes a slut? Perfect example: Paris Hilton.

Its no secret, that the heiress has a sordid reputation and is widely called a slut, a whore and loose, but to be quite honest, I'm not completely sold on this nor do I think its totally justified.




What would actually make her a slut? My definition has always been someone who casually sleeps around or has sexual relations with several people at a time. Do we know that she's has done that; has slept around with numerous people?


Here's what we do know:

  • she was engaged to Jason Shaw from 2002-2003, then engaged to Paris Latsis is 2005. She was also in commited relationships with Stavros Niarchos III and Rick Salomon.

  • She's also been quoted as saying on Regis & Kelly "One-night stands are not for me. I think it's gross when you just give it up. Guys want you more, if you don't just hand it to them on a platter."

  • She's currently in a committed monogamy relationship with a Swedish model.

So what exactly makes her a slut? Ok, here's what more I dug up:

  • She was featured in a sex tape (1 Night in Paris) with then boyfriend Rick Salomon, which was then distributed for profit against her wishes. She even sued her ex for damages.

  • She's appeared in a number of ads and endorsement deals scantily clad and sexually provocative (The Carl's Jr.'s campaign comes to mind). She has also be photographed half naked many times.

  • She has been seen out many times without underwear.
  • She dresses sexually provocatively.

  • She is known for being a hardcore partier and has been spotted out on the club scene regularly.

  • She is a women with many friends and dates frequently and has been spotted out with many guys and kissing and canoodling with differnet people.
So in evaluating with I know and have read about her, I have to ask again, what makes her a slut? Is it the sex tape? Cause I seriously know lots of people who have done things on video or had pictures taken of them in compromising positions.


Is is because of her highly sexually charged pictorials and ads, such as the Carls Jr's ad? Or is it because she's done this to promote products or sell her image? I myself, have had photos taken in a sexually provocative way to promote photographers' work and for my own personal portfolio. Turth is, most top models are photographed nearly naked. In fact, a succesful model is one that has to be comfortable enough with her body to potray what the clients need.

Is it the going commando? Because I can assure you, there are many women who have gone out without panties on. We have been lucky enough to not have papparazzi following us and recording our every move but its done, all over the world and probably at a club near you. And probably not even a club.

Could it be the sexually provocative dress? Many other women do this for a night out on the town, for their husbands or boyfriends, to the beach or just for fun. Is it 'you are what you wear' or 'if it walks like a duck...'? Does just showing your body is a provocative manner, mean you're slutty or easy?


It can't be the partying and drinking cause we've all pretty much been there.

What about being seen out with different men? This one hits home with me. For years, I was a swinging, single girl who dated often and very frequently and if papparazzi were following me, they would have found me out with different guys on the regular and probably assumed they were boyfriends, lovers or what have you. Truth is, I just dated a lot. But despite the large number of guys I might have gone out with, there was only a very small fraction that I truly dated and spent time with and an even smaller amount that I was intimate with, in commited and non-commited relationships


So again, what makes Paris Hilton a slut? Or Britney Spears a slut? Or Kim Kardashian a slut? Cause I've heard all these women called these names. Seems to me that these women have had a string of committed relationships (some acts caught on tape, others not) but we have no real proof of them having random sex with anyone. Sex with boyfriends, yes. But just anybody? I guess some may have a different definition of the word but going by these examples, well that would clearly make me a slut or a whore, since I'm guilty of most of the same things.

So am I a slut?

Someone has also mentioned to me that this is due to the whole virgin/whore dichotomy that exists in our society; that women can truly only be one or the other. Although, I believe every women has some angel and some devil in them to varying degrees.

And I don't even have the time to get into how if any of these women were male, they would be heralded as playboys and a players, not sluts.

I just find it interesting how quickly we are to label women as sluts and I still have a difficult time understanding why.

11 comments:

Music Snob said...

I definitely agree that the term slut is used way to loosely in our society, particularly when referring to celebrities. I also most definitely agree that there is a double standard and fans, papparrazi, etc. need to stop hating on these women for doing their thing. However, I do think its a tad ridiculous that celebs like Britney, Lindsay, etc have been photographed without underwear on multiple occasions. Fine perhaps you can claim ignorance the first time you're cooch ends up on the cover of US Weekly, however when it happens on multiple occassions I can only assume that you don't really give a shit that your biznaz is all out and I hardly feel sympathetic cause how hard is it to put on some panties.

Lady Dulayne said...

LOL, Music Snob. Don't get me wrong, there's a whole long list of things that Britney is doing that irks the hell outta me, particularly since she's a mother and her young boys will catch wind of her antics one day. And I don't understand ho wyou can do some of those things with photogs following your every move. but you do have to assume after awhile that they just don't care.

Anonymous said...

I don't have to read your whole blog to tell you that these women are not sluts, they're simply idiots. Having a child at 16 yo is STUPID. I don't give a flying phuck what Britney, her sister, paris, and LL are doing with their cooters. The fact that it's news in the USA continues to tell me that most news ain't worth reading. on dat note, I'd like to say Merry Christmas, blog-lady.

Anonymous said...

I don't have to read your whole blog to tell you that these women are not sluts, they're simply idiots. Having a child at 16 yo is STUPID. I don't give a flying phuck what Britney, her sister, paris, and LL are doing with their cooters. The fact that it's news in the USA continues to tell me that most news ain't worth reading. on dat note, I'd like to say Merry Christmas, blog-lady.

Lady Dulayne said...

LOL at the word 'cooter'. Yeah I'm that immature. But I agree. If your cooter was so out there, people wouldn't be so quick to label it.

Gotta keep the cooter better guarded!

Rashard said...

The people that call these women sluts are uptight, conservative, missionary position, soccer moms who sit at home wishing they had lives like Paris, Brittney, and the girls. (See also: haters) I agree with Snob, the word does get thrown around far more than it really should.

As you mentioned, the line between Virgin and Slut is thinner than Nicole Richie (ZING!) and it gives credence to the unfair judgement of these women.

How sad is it that most Americans don't know the names of 5 U.S Senators but can tell you every person Paris Hilton's dated in the past 5 years.

Agenda setting at its absolute best.

Anonymous said...

Even though we define slut as a sexually promiscuous woman, women our also labeled as sluts based on how we carry ourselves. This includes the way we dress, the company we keep, and the image we portray. The outside world doesn’t have a clue as to what goes on in Paris’ bedroom but they call her a slut based off her “sluttish behavior.”

Remember the objective is to be a lady in the street and a freak in the bedroom.

The double standard absolutely pisses me off. If a man was to act in the same manner he would be boasted. I guess in this case, what's good for the gander isn't good for the goose.

Not Your Average Male said...

Top 5 overused words of the moment:

5) So
4) Love
3) Hate
2) Slut
1) Like

We're just a crazy bunch of people who don't enjoy hearing about what rich people do with their money or cooters... what else can I say?

Rashard said...

It looks like "cooters" is going to be added to that list pretty soon I see.

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Hoopermazing said...

Americans are just uptight religious yahoos. The word slut is a weapon whose sole purpose is to force women into patriarchally acceptable modes of sexual behavior. It is quite telling that there is no equivalent pejorative for men.

While I have absolutely zero interest in seeing either Paris Hilton's or Britney's respective punannis, I support their right to air them out as they see fit. As to the badonkadonkalicious Kim Kardashian, I think that her choice of partners is likely to garner her more opprobrium here in AmeriKKKa than any of her antics.