Slut Shaming at The Other Club
What a brilliant idea The Other Club is. A pop-up members club for professional women, masterminded by journalists Joy Lo Dico and Katie Glass. I really hope this becomes a permanent fixture. For centuries men have had private clubs in which to network and do god knows what, and there's a major lack of members clubs for women to do likewise. Tucked away off Carnaby Street, there's work space for women to rent in the day, and a bar for after-work drinks. The really great thing about The Other Club is the line-up of events they have organised for their two-month tenure. You cannot underestimate the importance of giving women a platform on which to speak to other women, and opening up a floor for debate.
I visited The Other Club for the intriguingly named Slut Shaming night, organised by the awesome Milly Abraham of Vice. In bygone days a slut was someone who was a tad lazy and messy. Now a slut is Miley Cyrus at the VMAs, Rhianna in pretty much everything she does, women who go out clubbing wearing next to nothing, women who sleep with someone on the first date, women who talk openly about sexuality, it's a casually sexist name given by men joking to women, or an angry term of abuse. According to the Urban Dictionary a slut is a woman with the morals of a man. Slut Shaming is the process of naming sluttish behaviour and pretty much about putting women in their place. Both men and women are guilty of doing it, but how did ideas about sluts and their supposed shame come about? A group of terrifyingly smart and funny women were lined up to debate this.
I can only apologise for my grainy photos; it was very dimly lit, and the few lamps they had on were not casting photo-friendly light. I would have more photos of the other speakers, but I don't want to offend your eyes for too long. The show was opened by comedian Sara Pascoe whose account of standing up to an incident of slut shaming at a family gathering was powerful stuff, and not at all expected. It knocked me for six. She also made everyone laugh a lot with some stories about sex and sexuality - yes, yes (yawn) you can still have a feminist debate with humour. This whole night was goddam funny. Highlights for me included Sara, The Vagenda Team ladies, and Bryony Kimmings.
They talked about old sluts, young sluts, sluts in the media, sluts in the workplace. Changing (and non-changing) perceptions of sluts and those who make it their place to shame them. The atmosphere of fun and laughter in the room was immense, as was the sheer range of debates opening up every time we had a wine break in between speakers. I just want to say a huge thank you to The Other Club ladies for organising this night, and for all those who took to the mic and told it like it is and how it could/should be.