Great post at Feministe

But then, there are always a lot of great posts at Feministe - it is certainly one of my favourite blogs ever. (end gushing). Do check this one out though, by Jill, on 'Dressing like sluts'. It's a very thoughtful and thought provoking piece that takes on the question of what it actually means to say 'she dresses like a slut' and finds out that, although, the term 'slut' refers to a woman's sexual activity:

One’s sexual choices and one’s manner of dressing are just not correlated. Indeed, I’d bet a pretty penny that “slutty” clothing has more to do with the weather and the fashion cycle than with the status of one’s hymen.

Yes! My summers in Taiwan had me in shorter skirts and skimpier clothing in general than I've probably ever worn before. That was, however, because it was so stinking hot that I could barely move, that the mere idea of more than one layer of (very light) fabric covering my body would give me heat exhaustion. I was careful though, to wear knee length skirts and light but still with-a-sleeve shirts when teaching because I felt it was a bit more professional, which I suppose means that I didn't want my boss or students or their parents to say I dressed like a slut. Because we all know that being sexually active or simply dressing like an idea of someone who is sexually active means that you can't possibly teach five year olds the alphabet. Actually, now that I think about it, a lot of my teaching credibility rested on my appearance, but perhaps that's another post.
Anyway, check it.