Note: This entry is highly ciscentric just because I am focusing on my experiences and Sandra Fluke. I also acknowledge that I, myself, have been guilty of slut shaming. I am, however, now aware of this and am trying incredibly hard to stop using words like "slut" even jokingly.
A few weeks ago, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee called together a panel, inviting 11 panelists to come and speak about the requirement for all insurance companies to cover birth control. This wouldn't have been a problem, except out of the 11 panelists, none were women. This was a panel, essentially discussing women's health, without any women allowed to put input in.
Democratic representatives wanted to replace one of the men on the panel with Sandra Fluke. That request was denied because the committee chairman decided she didn't have the correct expertise because she lacked experience in knowledge of religious freedoms.
Fluke testified separately in front of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. She argued in favor of mandating all insurance companies to cover birth control, citing a case from a friend who had a medical condition that required a birth control prescription. Because her friend's insurance plan did not cover birth control pills, she was forced to pay more than $100 out of pocket a month. Fluke argued that women should have the same coverage men do (for example, insurance often covers Viagra prescriptions.)
This is what Rush Limbaugh had to say about the matter.
"What does it say about the college coed Susan Fluke [sic], who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex."
Yes. Because Sandra Fluke wants equal coverage, that makes her a slut.
Slut. My god. I despise that word. It's disrespectful, overused, and offensive.
This is how things work in our society. A man has sex with 5 different woman in a year, he's just being a man. A woman does it, and she's a slut. It's SHAMEFUL for her to exercise her right to say yes to sex.
We live in a hypersexual society, but only for men. As a college student, I know several guys that have "scoreboards" they do with their friends to keep track of hookups.
A woman does that? People go, "Wow. What a whore."
A guy takes a naked picture of himself and it gets released, he can brush it off no sweat.
A woman does that? She will NEVER live that down.
Women are constantly forced to apologize for things they shouldn't have to. Women shouldn't have to apologize for embracing their sexuality any more than men should. Why is it that guys can buy condoms no sweat, but when women do they get stares from others? Why do we have to hide the fact that we are on birth control for any reason? There is NO SHAME in sex, just like there is NO SHAME in abstinence.
Do whatever you want with your body! Don't let people tell you what to do, and don't let them shame you into doing something that you don't want to. If you want to have sex, then have sex. If you don't want to have sex, then don't.
And just because a woman is on the pill doesn't mean she's having sex. I, for example, have had a prescription since I was 15 because otherwise my periods lasted for two weeks and were incredibly painful. Birth control is wonderful for controlling issues like painful periods, endometriosis, and polycystic ovary syndrome.
Now, because I hold these views, Rush Limbaugh would probably label me a "Feminazi". That's an awful word, too. Why does our society think feminists are crazy? And why do they think they're all extreme. Just because you're a feminist doesn't mean you can't shower, wear makeup, and shave.
Take my mom, for example. My mom doesn't work. She's a stay at home mom. But she's a stay at home mom because she CHOOSES to be. My dad doesn't tell her to stay home, and she doesn't "know her place". My mom's place, along with any other woman's, is wherever she damn well pleases. If my mom wanted to become a policewoman, a firefighter, or a pilot, she damn well could, and she damn well would.
Feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. It's a fight against misogyny and a fight for equality.
Feminism is not anti-men or misandrous. I hate that when I say I'm a feminist, people say, "Oh, so do you hate men then?"
NO. Being a feminist doesn't make me a bra burning, no shaving lesbian (though there's nothing wrong with being like that). You know what being a feminist makes me? Someone who wants EQUALITY.
That's why feminists hate words like "slut" so much. It heightens the gap between men and women. Women are chastised while men are praised, and it needs to stop now.
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