Recently I did an assignment about the invention
and legalisation of the contraceptive pill in the U.S, combine that with the
hugely successful inaugural Radical Sex and Consent Day hosted last month, and
the disgraceful celeb nude photo hacking scandal, and I’ve had a lot of thoughts
bouncing around my feminist head.
I’ve been thinking how great it is that we’re
so lucky to have access to contraception, and sex education here in Australia. Woo
hoo! We’re free and we can all have great sex with each other, and express
ourselves sexually in any way we want to, and the only thing that matters is
that it’s completely consensual and safe. And in an ideal world, that would be
it. But sadly, that isn’t where we live. We live
in a world where when wom*n’s nude photos are leaked they are told that it’s their
own fault for taking the photos in the first place.
We live in a world where Cosmopolitan magazine
tells wom*n that to attract the man of their dreams they should be ‘flirty… but
not too flirty, because he needs to
know there’s still a bit of work involved to snag you’. We are advised to ‘lightly
graze his arm’ and ‘when talking eye-to-eye, tilt your face downward while
pushing your chin slightly forward, [because] research shows this angle makes
your features seem softer and more feminine.’ Apparently ‘uberconfidence is
practically catnip to men’ and we should ‘work just a sliver of skin into the
ensemble [because] it’ll get his blood pumping, but leaves enough to his
imagination that he’ll be dying for a peek at the rest.’ Oh and last but not
least, when you’re parting for the evening, catch his gaze and coyly linger
there for a few seconds.
It all comes down to this: we should be
confident but not slutty. We should at all times remain a ‘lady’. We’re not
supposed, or even allowed, to want
sex.
Earlier this year, British TV-personality Stephen
Fry claimed that: “Women only go to bed with men because sex is
the price they are willing to pay for a relationship.” He went on to say that if women really did
want sex there would be ‘straight cruising areas’ like there are gay cruising
areas, and women everywhere would be in bushes shagging strangers. “But there
aren’t, because the only women who have sex like that expect to be paid for
it.” Said Fry.
I found a quote on the internet that says men
are allowed to have bountiful sexual encounters because “a key that opens many
doors is called a master key, but a lock that opens for many keys is a shitty
lock." Enter Samantha Jones: seen by many as a sexual
hero to wom*n everywhere. When Sex and the City was released it was heralded as
a burgeoning sexual revolution that would lead to barriers being broken down
everywhere. Wom*n could finally have sex like men!
Or can they? The evidence continues to stack up that wom*n
whom are sexually confident are bad, evil whores. Take the following for
example: In 2012, Rush Limbaugh, America’s
answer to Alan Jones, called student Sandra Fluke a slut and a prostitute
live on air when she argued that contraceptives should be covered by Obamacare. Earlier this year, Senator Abetz
stupidly (and very mistakenly) said that wom*n who have abortions increase
their risk of getting breast cancer.
·
And news headlines like, “I’ve
slept with so many guys and am terrified my partner will find out,” make wom*n
question; just how many is too many? Additionally, the following online lists continue
to police wom*n’s behaviour in not only the public sphere of popular culture, but
everywhere:
- Top Ten Movie Sluts: including Mrs Robinson from the Graduate, Rizzo from Grease and Regina George from Mean Girls
- Top Ten Celebs Who We Think Are Probably Sluts. The list is mostly wom*n, (the only man is Justin Bieber) and features Scarlett Johansson, Taylor Swift, Rhianna and Christina Aguilera. (Don’t worry Xtina you’re still beautiful to me)
- Top Ten Favourite Movie Sluts. Kathryn from Cruel Intentions, Jenny from Forrest Gump and Lara from The Rules of Attraction; just to name a few.
 |
| When I googled "slut" this came up |
I’m not pretending to know the answer.
But I
know that we need more articles like this:
And I know that wom*n can and should dress/act/dance
however they want, whenever and wherever they want. The road to true sexual equality
across the gender spectrum is a long one but I think we’re one step closer with
festivals like Radical Sex and Consent Day.
I turn now to the words of
ever-inspiring Tina Fey,
KATE BULLEN
WOM*N'S PORTFOLIO HOLDER - BOARD DIRECTOR
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