Its only March, but this year has already seen the largest spike in mainstream media’s use of the word “slut” ever, most likely because mainstream media seems to have forgotten all world problems that are much bigger than how sexually active – or not – a woman may be, or if it's anyone's business.
The media has recently been focused on conservative Rush Limbaugh spending several days disparaging Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown University law student, referring to her as a “slut” and “prostitute” because she testified before Congress regarding birth control. He also suggested he would like her to send him a sex tape.
Limbaugh’s rant made the #iamnotaslut campaign on Twitter go viral, and his sponsors have been dropping like flies. However, now it seems as though the country can’t talk about anything other than “sluts,” according to this BuzzFeed chart.
Despite all this conversing about “sluts” the definition hasn’t gotten any clearer, other than commentators and other people in the media spreading whatever they believe the definition of “slut” is.
In Fluke’s case, during her testimony, she shared that she has a friend who takes the pill because of medical necessity. As a result, she has been criticized for sharing too much information about her sex life, despite never mentioning her own sex life while speaking to Congress.
With all this controversy and discussion, Mother Jones, a nonprofit news organization with a focus on politics and social justice, created the Flowchart: Are You a Slut? to help anyone out there (male or female) wondering if they qualify. There are two ways to work your way through the chart. The first is clicking “yes” or “no” to questions with photos of cute kittens – we suggest taking this route to finding out your “slut” status. The second is a normal flow cart, sans kitties, where you can see how the process is broken down.
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