Call Me a Slut

Like many others reacting to Rush Limbaugh's smear campaign against Sandra Fluke's decision to present to the Democratic hearing about Obama's contraception policy, I am enraged (to say the least) at the thought that even today women are still being slammed for having a voice. Now, the fact is that this Limbaugh character seems to be the epitome of what is wrong with taking beliefs to their extreme (when they're no longer recognizable); it also reflects some things that are fundamentally wrong in our society:

• Instead of attacking ideas, we resort to attacking people. 
• We do not take into account our personal history before attacking others' personal lives.
• We believe our opinion to be fundamentally more important than anyone else's.  
• We do not think twice before calling a woman who is threatening a slut. 

How I see it, the most problematic aspect of Limbaugh's argument (attack, really) was his muddling of Fluke's argument in order to make it seem petty, and then demeaning her on a personal level by calling her a slut.

The derogation on basis of (hypothetical) sexual promiscuity as a reactionary response to a woman who clearly has a voice is a troubling move, but it is (to a point) an expected one. Our society values women as physical and reproductive beings, while wanting to negate any aspect that denotes the same sexual freedom men seem to enjoy. 

Sure, a woman can hold a job just like a man, is asked to set aside any plans to start a family because that would cause some logistical problems in the workplace if she wants to advance, but is denied the same sexual freedom men are freely given on the basis of their genitalia. Sure, men can have families and be successful in the workplace, but at what cost? Does that mean his partner stays at home and takes care of the children or does this mean that they have to hire someone to take care of the home?

More often than not, women are waiting longer to start families in favor of achieving career stability. I commend them for that. If that means that employers should include birth control as part of their health insurance, then so be it. In fact, that's not at all what Fluke's argument was; indeed, her argument listed other medical reasons for which women take birth control pills. The bottom line is that Fluke's argument was that birth control is not about promiscuity or sexual freedom (though, seriously, when all is said and done who cares? Viagra isn't prescribed for other reasons, yet health insurance covers it): it is about other medical reasons, such as regulating periods and so forth.

Yet, instead of attacking this argument, Limbaugh made the choice of calling Fluke a slut or a prostitute, even going insofar as extending his argument to: 

“A Georgetown coed told Nancy Pelosi’s hearing that the women in her law school program are having so much sex they’re going broke, so you and I should have to pay for their birth control. So what would you call that? I called it what it is. So, I’m offering a compromise today: I will buy all of the women at Georgetown University as much aspirin to put between their knees as they want.”

This, of course, misses the mark on every single point. Limbaugh distorts and further reduces Fluke's argument to one that teeter totters on the border between unbelievable and ridiculous. I can only insist that his attempts at paraphrasing are completely unreliable. 

Perhaps Mr. Limbaugh could benefit from a course of freshman composition, in which us instructors make sure that students understand how logical fallacies and wrongful paraphrasing detracts from a rhetor's ethos instead of adding on to it. Instead of attacking an idea, Limbaugh acknowledges the threat Fluke and other women may pose to his conservative views and calls her (and like-minded women, by extension) a slut.  

And you know what? I, for one, am not a stranger to being called a slut. In fact, my ex fiancé called me a stupid slut because I chose to kiss someone else some time after he broke off the engagement (via telephone, I might add). I resented the qualification of stupid he chose to bestow upon my sluttiness, but I could not be any prouder to be called a slut. 

I choose the direction of my life. I control my body. I decide whether I want to participate in sexual activity or not. I have a voice and an opinion. I understand that some people may want to muddle the truth with concocted lies and distorted realities. I chose to pursue my education and goals in life. I will not be silenced.

So yes, go ahead and call me a slut.