Imagine with me for a second.
A girl wearing a short skirt and high heels struts down the street with last night’s make-up smeared all over her face.
Another girl, who is seemingly opposite with her conservative blouse and perfectly brushed mane of brown hair, bends down to pick up a condom that has slipped from the first girl’s pocket.
She hands it over with a smile.
No preconceived notions about whether or not the girl is about to drop it like it’s hot in a strip club or if she is headed to some kind of steamy sex house forms in the second girl’s mind.
This interaction happened because, in this imaginative world of wonder in which a person’s sexual activity holds no weight, the word “slut” ceases to exist.
Double standards do not exist, like Kim Kardashian’s musical talent.
Men get down and freaky just as much as women do.
And no one says a damn thing about the actions or “consequences.”
Women can offer their bodies as a service just as a dentist offers a service of cleaning plaque off teeth. Men can sell their goods like a baker sells a donut.
Two consenting adults choose what they want to do with their bodies because this world does not see sex as some deviant, evil force. Sex means expressing freedom. Sex doesn’t mean that somewhere down the line, something went wrong.
Educators teach sex education and talk about wrapping it up in order to protect everyone from diseases.
Someone can buy condoms in Walgreens without catching a disapproving glance from the cashier.
Whispers or text messages aren’t sent back and forth captioned with “omg, Beth slept with Dillon last night! that’s like the third person she’s slept with, what a whore!!!” Or “Beth must be going thru something tough, bless her <3.”
The human body isn’t seen as something that must immediately be blurred out, taped up or strictly covered.
No one holds the power in deciding what is deemed “sexy.”
People do not giggle or feel shame when the word “masturbation” pops up in conversation. And people aren’t viewed as immoral or deviant just because they want to feel a natural pleasure.
The word “prude” has no meaning either. If you do choose to not have sex, then by golly, that’s what you choose. You aren’t a “dirty virgin.”
This world does not repress sexuality involving pro-gay rights or prostitution.
And most importantly, this world does not show a link between social conservatism and the increasing rate of “teen pregnancies, abortions and sexually-transmitted diseases,” according to AlterNet.org.
With the word “slut” deleted from existence, the world becomes a less harsh place.
Men and women have equal power over their bodies and aren’t deemed pariahs for exploring as many bodies as they want.
Now that we’ve all stepped through the magical wardrobe into Sexy Narnia (has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?), we can see how labeling someone as a “slut” because he or she wants to feel pleasure regulates behavior that can bring about a guilt that shouldn’t exist.