as i tl:dr about stupid term usage in a book only one person on the flist has read
So, I really dislike the word 'slut'. It's an insult based on ages of denying women sexual freedom and enjoyment, and denigrates women who enjoy sex and embrace their own sexuality. It imparts a value judgement on the sex lives of women- something that is personal and nothing that anyone should have the right to dictate or judge. (Except in harmful cases such as pedophilia and rape.) 'Slut' and 'whore' automatically hit my rage triggers when used against a female. They're loaded, insulting words that scream of patriarchy and sexual repression.
So, when I read 'slut' being used as an insult against women in an Anne Bishop novel, in which the Blood presumably enjoy a matriarchy, I'm a little thrown out of the reading. Women in this world are expected to explore their sexuality and may have as many bed partners as they like, even in corrupted Terreille. It makes sense, for me, to see 'whore' being leveled against men in this world, because the pleasure slave industry seems entirely male dominated. 'Whore' leveled at the female gender makes sense as well, since female prostitution is alive and well, and the insult gains a new twist to my mind- perhaps shame associated with choosing a profession that caters to the sexual enjoyment of men.
But 'slut'? I wish I saw more of Blood sexuality beyond Anne Bishop's virginal little girl characters (sorry Lia and Jaenelle,) and the more twisted seductions of Hayll. Surreal seems the closest to average, she sees what she likes, hits on it, and gets herself laid. All very well and good. We see that the narrative seems to frown upon female promiscuity, as both of the female antagonists are of the Whore of Babylon variety: voracious sexual appetites and they seek to control the male characters by force, not by nurturing female nature. Still, the society itself doesn't seem the type to pass that sort of value judgement on a sexually active woman, not when men are the gender enslaved and used for sex. It could be the patriarchal mindset seeping into the book (it actually tends to do this often,) or I could just be missing an interpretation of that insult that would fit in the world given to us by Bishop.
So, when I read 'slut' being used as an insult against women in an Anne Bishop novel, in which the Blood presumably enjoy a matriarchy, I'm a little thrown out of the reading. Women in this world are expected to explore their sexuality and may have as many bed partners as they like, even in corrupted Terreille. It makes sense, for me, to see 'whore' being leveled against men in this world, because the pleasure slave industry seems entirely male dominated. 'Whore' leveled at the female gender makes sense as well, since female prostitution is alive and well, and the insult gains a new twist to my mind- perhaps shame associated with choosing a profession that caters to the sexual enjoyment of men.
But 'slut'? I wish I saw more of Blood sexuality beyond Anne Bishop's virginal little girl characters (sorry Lia and Jaenelle,) and the more twisted seductions of Hayll. Surreal seems the closest to average, she sees what she likes, hits on it, and gets herself laid. All very well and good. We see that the narrative seems to frown upon female promiscuity, as both of the female antagonists are of the Whore of Babylon variety: voracious sexual appetites and they seek to control the male characters by force, not by nurturing female nature. Still, the society itself doesn't seem the type to pass that sort of value judgement on a sexually active woman, not when men are the gender enslaved and used for sex. It could be the patriarchal mindset seeping into the book (it actually tends to do this often,) or I could just be missing an interpretation of that insult that would fit in the world given to us by Bishop.