Politics

Harvard Law Group Responds to Questions over ‘Slut-Pride’ Event

 

Harvard LSRJ Respond to Questions over Slut Pride Event

On Sunday, we raised attention to an event sponsored by the Harvard chapter of Law Students for Reproductive Justice (HLSRJ) during Harvard University’s “Sex Week,“ entitled ”Sex-Positivity and Slut-Pride.” The event description reads:

“Join HLSRJ and Good Vibrations for a short discussion of sex-positivity, a demo of lube and some popular sex toys, then Q&A. Free Food!”

The event title and description raised eyebrows considering HLSRJ is a nationwide organization that has firmly supported one of their Georgetown University chapter members, Sandra Fluke. When Fluke entered the national media discussion following her testimony on Capitol Hill regarding contraception costs and her opinion on the contraception mandate controversy, she was criticized by many conservative commentators, including Rush Limbaugh who crossed the line and later apologized for calling Fluke a “slut.”

At the time, LSRJ national released a statement that included:

“Fluke is the Georgetown law student whose contraceptive access advocacy has been called into question with language that falls, as Fluke said in her  press statement, ‘far beyond the acceptable bounds of civil discourse.’ Such personal attacks are intended to shame women out of advocacy and into silence, but Fluke refuses to back down,”

Considering this, HLSRJ’s event during Sex Week, at face value, may have seemed out-of-pace with the chapter’s national organization. On March 26, HLSRJ released a press release further explaining their event:

“We do not speak for all feminists or women’s rights supporters. However, in our opinion, Sandra Fluke was called a slut because Rush Limbaugh decided that she was having sex. If the definition of the word ‘slut’ is ‘a woman who has sex,’ then a very large percentage of women could be called this word.

Some women feel that the word ‘slut’ should be taken back by females, and not used as an insult, but rather redefined to mean a woman who is in charge of her sexual and reproductive decisions.

Other women believe that even used in a positive light, the word ‘slut’ hurts women and should be erased from our vocabulary.

All of these opinions are valid and appropriate and further the cause of establishing that people like Rush Limbaugh who use the word in a negative light should be held accountable for a judgment that is not theirs to make.

No matter what a person’s belief regarding the term ‘slut’ and how it should be used or not used by women, one issue is certain – as women, we need to combat the ugly stereotypes that women face regarding their sexual and reproductive choices.

Moreover, as an organization focused on reproductive justice, we believe that all women have the right to the best reproductive health option available to them, and every woman should be able to make her own decisions about her sexuality and her reproductive health.

Whether or not a woman chooses to have sex, she should be able to access reproductive health services unconditionally, without her choices being called into question.

Our feeling is, how dare a man like Rush Limbaugh be able to label a contentious, politically-active, modern woman like Sandra Fluke with a term that he believed, based on his extensive surrounding commentary, to be derogatory?

If we can use the word ‘slut’ in a way that, as Gloria Steinem said, ‘take[s] the sting out,’ and creates a space where some women feel more able to make their own choices about sexual and reproductive preferences, then we feel it is an appropriate use of the word, especially in the context of a sex-positive event.”

[...]

“The word ‘slut’ has been used in the recent news as an insult against a partner of ours, Sandra Fluke, who is also a member of LSRJ, which is the national Law Students’ organization for Reproductive Justice.

Amidst all of the negative attention that Mr. Limbaugh focused on the sexual choices of people other than himself, the word has sparked a national dialogue among American women who feel that they should be allowed to make their own reproductive health choices.

If our decision to represent the term in a positive light for students who would like to discuss the implications of the word in a larger reproductive health context offends some women, we are truly sorry, and we recognize and respect the choice of those women to determine that the word should never be used at all, even in a positive way.

What we do not allow is for people to form a negatively reductionist opinion of our event and our organization based on the word ‘slut.’ Women’s feelings regarding that word cannot be reduced to a sound bite or a bumper sticker. This is a discussion that women from all over the country want to engage in – and we sincerely hope that anyone choosing to cover this event will give it the positive attention that it deserves.

We want reproductive justice for all women – and we believe that this event, like many we hold every year at Harvard Law School, including during our annual Sex Week, furthers that cause.”

LSRJ is a private organization, with individual members who have the right to express their opinions on issues relating to “reproductive justice” and the use of the word “slut,” just like anyone else. That said, what is your opinion on the appropriateness of using the word “slut,” as well as HLSRJ’s statement regarding their decision to sponsor the “Slut-Pride” event and defense of the expression?

Comments (19)

  • BlackBeaver
    Posted on March 28, 2012 at 9:06pm

    Mr. Limbaugh’s comments were rude and inappropriate, as he admitted in his apology, but they are protected free speech. Unforunately, his mistake left him open to criticism by the Left, who already had a plan to use and were just waiting for the opportunity.

    (Interestingly, Mr. Beck and his colleagues made essentially the same charges earlier on the same day, yet have escaped criticism. Is it possible the Left overlooked this discretion? Or did they just go after ‘the big one’?).

    There was a time in this country when Mr. Limbaugh’s apology would have ended the discussion. Not today.

    As we see in this story, words like ‘prostitute’ or ‘slut’ are considered proper and appropriate when used by a Kennedy to describe a US Senator, or by Harvard Law to describe their own.

    Like it or not, we conservatives will have to live with the inconsistencies of the Left and their media propagandists.

    Report Post »  
  • ContinentalArmy
    Posted on March 28, 2012 at 6:29pm

    Once Again It’s Fluking Ignorance about Sluts! Someone that uses that much money in a year is not a Halo wearing Person. Jezebel; slut; tramp, ETC., ETC., ETC. Do away with All Law Colleges Once and For All !!! There are way too many Crooks out there as it is! Just look at the White House, Need I say More !!!!

    Report Post »  
  • CandyMan2012
    Posted on March 28, 2012 at 3:23pm

    Great. Now the reproductive-rights whackos are pursuing their non-like-minded women classmates INTO the classrooms, where the captive audience gets to sit and read “slut” on the chalkboards:

    http://stoptheharvardlawhate.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/hate-speech-in-class-radical-harvard-feminists-write-slut-on-chalkboards/

    Report Post »  
  • Deepdiver58
    Posted on March 28, 2012 at 8:22am

    What the heck is reproductive justice? Does that mean the fetus is not aborted? Wouldn’t that be justice for the unborn? Or, are we taling about the “rights” of a woman to abort her mistake (wouldn’t want to burden the woman with pregnancy- according to BHO).

    Don’t you have a responsibility to take appropriate action for having sex? Having sex is a right to all adults, but there are responsibilities for your actions.

    Sex can be good, fun, enjoyable, exciting, satisfying, and procreative (and other things). You have to decide what you will do after the act, before you start.

    As to the “slut” aspect… if you use $3000 dollars a year worth of condom/birth-control-pills, then you are probably a slut. And I mean that in the best possilbe way.

    Report Post » Deepdiver58  
  • brickmoon
    Posted on March 28, 2012 at 2:39am

    If I may, a repost of my comment on the original article, as I believe it is as pertinent here:

    Yes, maybe it is boorish to use a hyperbolic insult to criticize someone on a public interest scholarship at Georgetown, who can’t afford “an entire summer’s salary” to pay for birth control, yet who can manage to squeeze in a romp through Spain and Italy with her boyfriend. Tsk. First world problems.

    Apparently, it’s not the word itself, but the implication. That explains a lot of things:

    At a “bring your kids” event on the National Mall it’s okay if the top-billed entertainer drops 75 F-bombs — as long as it’s at a “Reason Rally.”

    Racial epithets and overt threats of violence from Occupy protesters? “God bless them for their spontaneity,” says Nancy Pelosi.

    No harsh words from the White House for Jesse Jackson’s use of the N-word, or expressing a wish to cut the president’s “acorns” off.

    Al Sharpton spouts derogatory statements about Jews and other groups, but all is forgiven when he gets his own show.

    Who can forget — I mean, remember — Harry Reid’s description of candidate Obama as a “light skinned” African-American “with no Ne*** dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” Yes, remember the protests and boycotts over that idiot and racist and…oh, wait…Obama campaigned for him in 2010…and he was re-elected?

    And no phone call from the White House to any of the Palins, after Bill Maher calls them much mor

    Report Post » brickmoon  
    • brickmoon
      Posted on March 28, 2012 at 2:52am

      And no phone call from the White House to any of the Palins, after Bill Maher calls them much more vile names. I wonder why? That’s the million dollar question.

      Report Post » brickmoon  
  • Armyof One
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:36pm

    So….once again…lessee if I can finally get it straight this time;

    If one has a lot of sex, asks others to pay for it–She’s a slut.

    But if you are an advocate of choice, you can have lots of sex and ask others to pay for it—and you are not a slut.

    My Dad had a word for women that had others pay them for sex– whore.

    Report Post » Armyof One  
  • Free2speakRN
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 7:54pm

    Rationalizing thought process; circular logic; speaking out of both sides of mouth; hypocrisy in action.

    ‘They want what they want, when they want it, and on their own terms’. This is an anthrpological statement; of the anthropological behavior of mankind.

    It is first seen in the Garden of Eden, with Adam and Eve.

    Report Post »  
  • lukerw
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 7:50pm

    HAVARD… is a Hermaphrodite… consisting of Slut… and Racist… parts!

    Report Post » lukerw  
  • EP46
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 7:42pm

    but…but…but….Rush used slut in a positive way….he could have called her a media whore…or a Left Wing pimp…or a prostitute ……he was trying to give it the ole Harvard gloss and not call her anything that an Ivy League school would not call women !

    Report Post »  
  • jamestoms
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 7:28pm

    Well Harvard got to be proud of something.

    Report Post »  
    • EP46
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 7:48pm

      They had the Slut Walk in 2011 also….maybe Fluke was there

      Report Post »  
  • sndrman
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 7:13pm

    where is the moral outrage? when RUSH said it,it was as if it was the end of the world? hope the same moron who went after RUSH‘s advertisers goes after this group’s supporters…. wouldn’t that be the right honorable thing to do. oh right lib/socialists are less than honorable just like (r)’s hiding under the desks….

    Report Post »  
  • BarackStalin
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 6:58pm

    I completely support all the sluts of America…

    at least until Monday morning when I disappear

    Report Post » BarackStalin  
  • Lucy Larue
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 6:37pm

    Oh My Dear God in Heaven! HLSRJ is at HARVARD?
    Slut pride?!
    Reproductive JUSTICE?!
    How about this? if you‘re going to have sex NITWIT you’ve got the pill. You don’t like the pill..,use a condom.
    The WORLD is on freaking fire. There are bigger problems to address than your imbecilic “Reproductive Justice”. UGH!

    ALL of you SISTERS of REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE need to get an actual LIFE! What self absorbed Narcissicists you all are.
    Afghan women stoned to death for faux adultery? CRICKETS. Joe College forgets to bring a condom to the tryst? Outrage!
    Tres hilarious! Tres vacuous! Tres ridicule!

    Report Post »  
    • TomFerrari
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 7:26pm

      Shouldn’t obamacare have to foot the bill for prostitutes on the name of male reproductive justice?
      Oh, prostitution is not reproduction? News flash, birth CONTROL is not about reproduction either!
      Just the opposite. It is about fornicating like barnyard animals, rutting whenever you are in heat.
      If you are attentive and intuitive, you can see their lack of conviction when they lamely try to argue their claim that it is a health issue. They dont even believe it, so they cannot be convincing when arguing, and it shows. This was clear in the SCOTUS argument today by obama’s solicitor general.

      Pregnancy is not a disease. Therefore, preventing it is not a health issue, any more than nancy pelosi’s weekly face lifts. LOL
      It is ELECTIVE.
      Sex is elective.
      Contrary to what many may think or practice, you CAN live without it.
      Maybe hoes and $100.00 dinners and booze/wine and movies should be paid for ad well since it is actually about getting laid for free. I’m just sayin.

      Report Post » TomFerrari  
  • bdandsl
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 6:31pm

    These people are just plain nuts. I wonder if their enrollment has been effected with all this liberal PC garbage? No way would I pay for my kid to go to that school.

    Report Post » bdandsl  
  • TEIN
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 5:52pm

    HLSRJ has just shoveled more fertilizer in a half page than most manure manufacture produce in a year… “slut’ highly promiscuous female…having a lot sex with one partner does not make a slut..
    Next: “Moreover, as an organization focused on reproductive justice, we believe that all women have the right to the best reproductive health option available to them, and every woman should be able to make her own decisions about her sexuality and her reproductive health.” Is there any person or organization that is stopping, curtailing, prohibiting women from best or worst reproductive health options?? Talk about a bunch of pompous azzes….Get one thing straight HLSRJ women already have the right to what you “valiantly” proclaim…I just don’t want to be forced to pay for it…..

    Report Post »  
  • bitter clinger
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 5:47pm

    reproductive justice for all

    Report Post » bitter clinger  

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