How the Campaign Slut got her Name

Political "junkies"

People often ask me why the name of this blog is "Campaign Slut."  Why not Campaign Junkie? they ask  After all we've all heard people call themselves political "junkies." But that is not a word I embrace.  It is a word that carries a meaning hard to divorce from its original context.  A junkie is someone strung out on junk. Dope. Smack. Heroin.

That's just so down. Can you think of one connotation of he word "junkie" that is not sordid, depraved, sick, and just grody? It means addicted. As in powerless in the face of their dependency. To hard drugs. That make you sick. And can kill you.

Besides political junkies are so serious.  And I wanted to have some fun with my site.

What's in a name?

Slut is a word that is applied to others, women, as a word of judgment on behavior or perceived behavior. Usually it describes sexual promiscuousness, but also it describes the perception of sexual promiscuousness, or even the state of one's dress. "She is such a slut." "She" may be a girl who dresses in short skirts and stiletto heels, sports piercings and tats, stands with an attitude.

And that attitude, saucy tilt of head, hip thrust forward, maybe just dancing with an excess of enthusiasm, is what makes some people label her a slut, with all the sexual undertones that word implies.

Hey, this could be a 14 year old virgin we are talking about, and what business is it of yours anyway?

Sluts Unite!

To many men, a slut is someone asking to be raped.  Plain and simple.  Because women finally got fed up with being considered fair game for uncontrolled male libido just because they looked, talked, walked or danced with some sass, they started strutting their slutness in public to protest the idea that women who were groped or raped were "asking for it."


But it wasn't always thus.  A 2011 BBC article traced the word from the 15th century meaning of "dirty" or "slovenly" to a more playful and affectionate use in the 17th century to the pejorative it is generally thought of today.

"Slut Walks"

So "Slut walks" started to reclaim the word and take the sting out of it and defang the notion that the way a woman appears defines who she is and what men have the right to do to her. And now they are a regular happening around the world, promoting an active feminism among mostly younger women in DC, SF, France, India and many other far flung places on the globe.
This is a good thing, bringing younger women into the feminist movement is political. 

Sluts vote

Not just a statement about rape, Slut Walks now promote women's rights, civil rights, voting rights and invite women to participate no matter how they dress.  Got sass?  You can make a difference.  You can Rock the Slut Vote.

Campaign Slut

So, when I was casting about for a name for my new blog that would describe my relationship with politics, the phrase Campaign Slut jumped into my mind - I have a playful, affectionate, unbridled, lustful, joyous and altogether sassy relationship with politics. I am a campaign slut.  That doesn't make me less professional, serious or effective.

It just means I have a little attitude, but hey, I'm no junkie.