What is a slut?
At "Sluts, Prudes and Everything in Between: A Conversation about Sex in College," the discussion's 25 attendees agreed that being called a slut is at least a bit insulting and most likely meant in a derogatory way.
The discussion, hosted by the Women's Resource Center, tackled the subject in the George Sherman Union on Thursday evening.
"There are a lot of different ways in which people express their sexuality," said College of Communication junior Michelle Weiser. "The media focuses on hyper-sexualized college kids, and I want to see what's really happening."
Weiser, who led the discussion, began the session by reading aloud questions from a "Slut Test" found on the online dating service OkCupid, which included the following: "If you ever have sex with someone, and the relationship doesn't work out, how do you feel about the fact that your "Total Number of Sex Partners' has just gone up?" and "Do you ever have fantasies about becoming a prostitute?"
From these questions, a debate arose concerning men's and women's attitudes toward sex.
Some attendees argued that for biological and historical reasons, women are more emotionally invested in sex and therefore more likely to become attached to their sexual partners than men.
Others, like College of Arts and Sciences senior Cristina Inceu, argued that due to advancements making women more in-charge of their reproductive cycles, the concept of greater female emotionality has become obsolete.
"You have these options &- condoms, birth control, etc. &- women are educated, they have family planning...it's time for these ideas to dissipate," she said. "If we're removing the fact that pregnancy is a concern, then emotionality is lessened."
CAS senior Sarah Sullivan agreed.
"It's dangerous to move forward in a way that says that women are more emotional in sex...it's stifling to our sexuality," she said.
Weiser explained that the term "slut" first emerged in popular parlance in the 1950s in the height of American conservatism, as girls sought to gain some sort of power through their "virginity" in contrast to unchaste "whores."
One of the two men present, College of Engineering senior Josh Dill, said he enjoyed the discussion because he felt the conversation wasn't just for women.
"There's a natural confusion about what men want and what women want," he said. "Issues like these aren't just women's issues. There should be a men's resource."
CAS senior Elise Kulik agreed that the event was worth attending.
"Anything that deals with morality is interesting and talking about it brings us closer to the truth," she said.
CAS junior Meghan Faulkner explained the event was part of a new effort to get people up and talking about issues of the sort.
"We have weekly leadership meetings, and we wanted a way to get people involved," she said. "Consciousness-raising was a big part of part of second wave feminism, and there isn't a lot of that today so we want to get people involved."
The Center will be holding weekly consciousness-raising discussions Thursday evenings at 5 p.m.
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