Today we are going to talk about sluts.

Everyone paying attention?

ThereB次元官网网址檚 a secret about sluts.

Shhhhhh.

Get real close so you can hear.

There is no such thing as a slut.

Sluts donB次元官网网址檛 exist.

A slut is a myth.

The reason we are talking about sluts is Pink Shirt Day B次元官网网址� an event that encourages people of all ages to stop and think about bullying, how to prevent it and eradicate it from our schools and our communities.

When it comes to bullying girls and women, there are few missiles as effective as the word slut.

LetB次元官网网址檚 just strip that label down. (And who doesnB次元官网网址檛 enjoy a romp along the fascinating trail of feminist etymology?)

Slut was first used as an adjective in the fourteenth century by Chaucer. ItB次元官网网址檚 in Canterbury Tales and B次元官网网址渟luttishB次元官网网址� describes the slovenly appearance of a man.

Uh huh. The first slut was a Lord.

Later the word attached itself to women, but always in reference to untidy housekeeping.

True story. If youB次元官网网址檝e seen my bedroom floor or the backseat of my car you know I am a first-class slut, circa 1400 and something.

For the last couple of centuries the word slut has been reserved to attack a womanB次元官网网址檚 moral character and sexual behaviour.

But itB次元官网网址檚 not real, itB次元官网网址檚 just noise, and there is no such thing.

Calling a woman a slut today is no different than throwing out the accusation B次元官网网址渨itchB次元官网网址� in 1690 Salem.

ItB次元官网网址檚 a word used to shut a woman down, because for whatever reason she threatens people.

Maybe she dresses differently, or speaks her mind, or just goes her own way and makes her own choices.

Of course witches werenB次元官网网址檛 real either. But that didnB次元官网网址檛 stop the women from being burned at the stake.

Now, we roast them on social media.

ThereB次元官网网址檚 research documenting the painful outcomes for many women who attract the slut-designation early in life, because they buy in. They give the word power.

Those include lack of success in education and career, addiction and abusive relationships.

Many years ago I published the newspaper in my hometown of Paris, Ontario.

The company, in a shrewd business deal, purchased an enormous and basically falling-down building smack on the main street for that purpose.

It was four storeys and at one time housed the YMCA, community centre, and gymnasium.

ItB次元官网网址檚 where I played basketball once, and went to Brownie meetings.

While poking around in the basement one afternoon, looking for treasure, I stumbled (actually stumbled) over a large chunk of plaster that had broken off from a wall in the old public washrooms.

The graffiti on it read: For a good time call Andrea, 442-6127 SLUT.

Funny, how seeing the phone number from the house you grew up in can occasion such a visceral reaction.

Stood there in that frigid, moldy place for a long time, wondering if the artifact was worth framing.

The bathroom wall is a lot bigger now, as it encompasses Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

There is no such thing as a slut.

If someone calls you a slut, refuse delivery.

If that doesnB次元官网网址檛 make you feel better, pull out your wand, cast a spell and turn that person into a toad.

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