Is Slut A Bad Word?

This week, the sultry Brit chef Nigella Lawson cancelled the word "slut" in the culinary world when she officially changed the name of her beloved puttanesca recipe known as "Slut's Pasta" to "Slattern's Pasta." I'm torn here: growing up, "slut" was a word hurled by angry boys like a fistful of sand. And yes, it hurt if it got in your eyes. But me and my friends also volleyed the word "slut" around playfully. It was our word, not theirs. When I went to put on makeup for a night of bar-hopping in New York, I would shout to my roommate, "Give me five minutes. I gotta slut it up." Fun fact: I once interviewed Elizabeth Taylor for a magazine and she referred to her pot of lip gloss as "my slut."

Why is it that a sexually active man is backslapped as a stud, but a woman with a sexual appetite is shamed as a slut? The reality is this: sexual double standards still dictate perceptions, as evidenced by this 2020 study, and those judgements can stop a woman in her tracks--socially, emotionally and professionally. Can we tame and reclaim this slur? Women like us, yes. But I can't help but worry about the tweens and teens who get called a "slut" in a hateful way and can't get that sand out of their eyes. (Check out The UnSlut Project to learn how one woman's slut shaming launched a movement against harassment.)

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