Sometimes saying the word slut just feels so good. But, I used to try to stray away from this word because feminism is no longer solely focused on male-female relationships, but rather female-female relationships. We live in a world where girls are forced to be in constant quarrel with one another. Who is prettier? Who is more feminine? Who has the best combination of tits and ass? Who is the least slutty, while still being the hottest one that hooks up with the most guys?

When I go to a party I see these sort of contradictions and gender normative roles at its finest. And I know, at times, I can be apart of it. I squeeze myself into a minidress and heels and put way too much makeup on. I become bored and flirt with guys I‰’m not even interested in because, it‰’s what girls do, right? And when I see a girl who is doing exactly what I am doing, my mind immediately turns venomous. I want to call her “slut.” The word serves as a reminder of what women are inherently supposed to be. My mind has become consumed with what makes a woman womanly, which I suppose is a June Cleaver cyborg.

When I want to call another girl that, I mean it with the cruelest of intentions. The word slut is intended to point out that the receiver of this word has no sense of femininity. They do not fulfill their womanly duties. And this is where I get to my point. I am reclaiming the word slut and Bikini Kill is going to help me.

If the anti-slut is docile and submissive, I want to tell her to fuck off. I have to say, enough of playing into feminine ideals and doing what is expected of us. I am a slut and hopefully so are you. For Bikini Kill, in the artfully crafted “Rebel Girl,‰” (goddess of all things bad ass) Kathleen Hanna praises the “slut‰” and even rejects the preconceived notions of what a slut is.

The “Rebel Girl‰” Hanna sings about is, quite simply, awesome. She is everything I want to be. She “holds her head up so high‰” and she has amazing clothes. Most importantly, she is a much needed symbol for a new brand of woman. She rejects the past ideals of womanhood. She is sexual and demanding, Hanna often times calling her a “queen.‰” She is not immortalized for her beauty like female subjects of songs have been in the past. Instead, she, on her own, is a revolution, “when she walks, the revolution is coming.‰” Not since Eug̬ne Delacroix‰’s painting of “Liberty Leading the People‰” has a female had so much agency for social change as Rebel Girl had.

“Rebel Girl‰” embraces the slut. Hanna screams, “They say she’s a slut, but I know/ She is my best friend, yeah.‰” Everyone else claims this girl is a slut, but Hanna refuses to conform and see the negativity of this word. She praises the woman who is sexy and intriguing. She celebrates the woman that goes against the grind of chastity. There is not one ounce of jealousy in the song, but rather a validation that women are beautiful in their own right. If the Rebel Girl is a slut then being a slut is not a bad thing. Instead, it is a rejection of womanly ideals. It means that I am thinking human being. It means that I have an opinion. It means that I can wear a short dress and still call myself a feminist. It means that the next time I tell a girl she is a slut for being a functionally sexual being, it is not to insult, but rather to say “Love you like a sister always.‰”

So to all my sluts out there, can‰’t we all just get along?