I struggle with "slut walks".

I have had a hard time with this. As part of my programs on high school and college campuses we discuss communication and miscommunication and mixed signals. We discuss "words" and how words mean different things to different people. As we get into talking about degrading words the word slut always comes up and I ask who uses the word more, guys or girls. They always agree its girls. I make light (as a point of making a point) of the fact that girls use a word about other girls that THEY don’t like to be called by other girls or guys. Yet most girls agree some of their friends say it to their best friends meaning it in a "fun" way...as if saying "hey buddy". How can we have it both ways? So I struggle with taking a word that is so negative and trying to use it to get respect in an issue that already has a stigma for "gray areas" and that words like rape cant have all kinds of different definitions. How do we teach kids it’s ok to say certain words and call others certain things (like slut) if it used in the correct context?

This is a great piece and i echo many of the thoughts...

http://www.feminisms.org/2585/were-sluts-not-feminists-wherein-my-relationship-with-slutwalk-gets-rocky/

I struggle with "slut walks".