Slut shaming is a term a woman knows all too well. The Oxford Dictionary defines slut shaming as “the action or fact of stigmatizing a woman for engaging in behavior judged to be promiscuous or sexually provocative.” Basically, any woman who is comfortable with her sexuality is at risk of being slut shamed for simply wearing a dress that others deem “provocative.” The term “slut” is typically assigned to women, while men are often encouraged to embrace their sexuality and even praised for the same promiscuity.
Moreover, the sad fact of the matter is that women are usually the ones calling other women out for their “revealing” outfits, instead of supporting and standing up for one another. Yet such was not the case on the central line of the Tube in London, where an older woman scolded a middle-aged man because he tried to slut shame a young woman.
Scott Sparrow, a fellow passenger on the tube that evening, witnessed the sassy take-down and couldn’t resist posting the story on Facebook. (Note: It is important to note that in this context, “fanny” means vagina.)
Sparrow wrote, “I am having such a wonderful day on the tubes I can’t not share this story. Let me build the scene: Central Line between Oxford Circus and Chancery Lane, possibly St Pauls. To my right is sat a lady, 25 to 30, wearing a revealing dress. To my left is an old lady, almost dead is how old she is. Standing in front of us is a man, 50’s, suit and tie, eyeing revealing dress.”
Sparrow continued, “Suit leans over to the ‘revealing’ dress lady and says, ‘Have some self respect when you dress yourself.’ Revealing dress lady blushes to the color of her almost not there dress. Old, soon to be dead, lady is having none of this and in a south London accent shouts out, ‘She can wear or not wear whatever the f*** she likes, even if she was naked with a sign pointing to her fanny (she said fanny on the central line by St Pauls) and the sign pointed to her fanny which said Party City All Invited, then that would still be none of your bloody business. Now f*** off back to your bored wife!’ Red dress then hugs the walking dead and old suit walks off.”
Sparrow ends his post with, “That old lady will be my hero for the rest of her life, even if the rest of her life is like only another week. She was so old.”
The lady in question should be every young woman’s hero. Not only did she point out that this man’s comment was inappropriate, she also noted that women can wear whatever they like because what they wear is nobody else’s business but their own. More women should be standing up for each other like this older woman did for a young girl who was being harassed on the Tube.
Slut shamers everywhere should take some notes and learn to mind their own “bloody business.”
Featured Image by Oxfordian on Flickr
Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0)
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