5: Beware of your Sexuality

SLUT: a promiscuous woman; especially : prostitute

That is the definition given by the online Merriam- WebsterDictionary. Not really what most women would want to be referred to, right? Well, more and more women are becoming used to that word. SlutWalks, however, around the country and world are aiming to stand against the word and it's most common usage. SlutWalks are trying to "reclaim' the word slut, to disarm it's derogatory nature and to create a unity within the men and women who have been disrespected by the word. It's working to change the worldview of what the word "slut" most commonly represents.

The word is often used coinciding with rape. I don't agree with the view that women who dress provocatively or sleep around makes the rape their own fault. No, like what Shaista Aziz says in her interview for The Gaurdian, it's not what one wears that attracts a rapist, but the need for control of a situation that attracts the rapist.

Don't get me wrong though, we as women and even as men need to be aware of the clothes we wear and what kind of subliminal message that sends to others. Even if we don't mean to send a specific message, the things we wear and how we wear them can trigger things in other people. Dressing how you want is totally your control, but you have to remember that you make be provoking something that you cannot control.

As a woman, I do take into account how what I wear will make others feel about me. All girls do, I think. But when it boils down to it, I am ultimately putting on what I think I look best in for that occasion, Sometimes, that might give others around me the wrong impression, but clothing is not what defines someone, its merely just a piece in the puzzle.

I guess the moral of the story is: Dress how you want; Be aware of the affect you have on other people. Judgement is always going to be passed, the best we as humans can do is work hard on ourself to change that. How we feel and how the world views certain people can only be changed by changing yourself first.