animalsalvaje replied to your quote: SlutWalk aims to reclaim the word “slut” and use...
just based on that sentence alone, i am forced to find the endeavor either 1) basically self-defeating (impossible to pursue), or 2) irrelevant (not worthy of pursuit). my first thought is, the so-called power of a word is given by it's social-ness, by which i mean both its immediate context per use, and its larger, accumulated historical 'weight'. i am kind of reluctant to give 'slut' immediate gravity just from personal experience. the only times i've ever been called a 'slut' with any seriousness were times when i've refused the name-caller's sexual advances. i am weary of the historical 'weight' of any offensive word, because language evolves and i feel our continued fear or reverence or kept distance or any 'out of normal range' reaction is what keeps the word 'out there'. so i tend to feel like by saying 'we need to reclaim' this phrase or that word, we're keeping it apart almost just by doing that. the attempt to incorporate 'slut' into normal, non-offensive vocabulary, or to take it to the next level and imbue it with positive connotations kind of puts its negativity in the spotlight.
my second thought is just further down the same vein- i don't even care that there's such a word or that it carries such a derogatory tone towards women. it kind of seems like some such word MUST exist. Any time you try to give an object or a concept, you always need the help of a word that you feel, describes, this one specific thing, and no other thing at all. i don't think we would have much to gain from reversing the meaning of the word 'slut' in the grand scheme of things.
that said, i mean, i think in the same direction that SlutWalk is theoretically headed, there are more worthwhile distinctions to be made. For example, it has been noticed that we live in a society that teaches "don't get raped" rather than "don't rape" (rabble.ca, lovelyish, i think i even saw a PostSecret postcard about this!) and it seems to me trying to change that would be a more sensible endeavor.