Does wearing makeup and dressing suggestively make you a SLUT?

[Catalie]

This is a controversial topic for many reasons. I know that there are so many articles and videos talking about how you "shouldn't wear makeup" and if you wear makeup you are fake and you aren't being yourself.

I wear makeup every day. I wear red lipstick, mascara, eyeliner, eyeshadow, foundation, concealer, and powder. I wear shirts that show my midriff. I wear crop tops. I wear short shorts. Does this make me "fake" or a "slut"? No. Not at all. What I wear and how I choose to make my face look doesn't make me a slut.

Here is the definition of a slut:

A woman who has many casual sexual partners.

If I wear a lot of makeup and dress somewhat suggestively, does that automatically mean that I have many casual sexual partners? Absolutely not. This word get twisted and used incorrectly all the time.

Looking at the pictures above, you see someone who gets called a slut or gets told that they dress like a prostitute and then you see a picture of a literal prostitute. Honestly, how can these two women even be compared? The answer is they cannot be. However, society chooses to say they are the same.

Let's look at some more pictures. The first picture shows up on a google search for "slutty makeup".

The second picture shows up when you type in "slut".

Once again, I notice an extreme difference. How can these women even be compared? Once again, they cannot be compared.

Wearing too much makeup (or sometimes, any makeup at all) is looked down upon by society. Wearing makeup DOES NOT make you a slut.

I wear makeup because it gives me confidence. I wear makeup because it makes me feel good about myself. I wear makeup because it makes me feel beautiful. And I don't want to be called a slut or a whore or a fake bitch because I want to feel beautiful.

[OlderAndWiser]

This is not a male-female issue. I have heard girls call each other "slut" or tell them that they are dressed slutty.

I try to not call anyone names, including sluts. That does not mean that sluts do not exist. We all have seen people who have no regard for how many sexual partners they have and, for these people, they have no emotional connection with their partners. They have no regard for who they hurt when they are "hooking up." They don't care if it is their brother-in-law or their brother's fiancée.

I use the term to apply to both promiscuous males and females, so I do not use the term in a way that is sexist or which accepts a double standard. Some people advocate having 50-100 or more partners and, if that is what you want to do, there is no law and no force that will stop. But, if you talk to older women who engaged in "slutty" behavior when they were younger and ask them if they regret the decisions they made when they were younger, almost all of them will express regrets.

There is a great desire to push the idea that we should all be free to engage in whatever behavior we choose without suffering any consequences. . . but that is a foolish idea, because there are always consequences to behavior of any significance.

[Catalie]

This is extremely insightful!

[vishna]

Some of this is super terrible cheap taste. And if that's someone's taste, like that last picture, I mean, go for it.

I like wearing make up too, and I use to show a lot of cleavage and I like wearing dresses now that really show off my hips. So, I'm sure someone out there has thought 'wow, what a slut'

But eff them. Just like the lady in the last picture can say to me regarding her style.

I think female sexuality isn't expressed via clothing by every woman. And so, some women do not understand why a woman would show cleavage or her legs. Personally, I just think some things are tacky and cheap looking. I don't know about her sex life, and I don't care.

Also, it's really about different cultures, in Cali, things will be shorter and more acceptable than say a small religious town. However, I went to a religious college for a year, and the girls wore ass shorts and no one batted an eye, there was so shorts dress code or anything.

I think we're coming a long way in America because we have the absolute freedom to wear whatever we want. We just need to go a little farther and see that what we wear doesn't equate to our sex life (even though it might mean we have questionable taste)

[Hal2002]

Wearing makeup and dressing suggestively does not make you a slut, how you carry yourself and act is what gets you classified as a slut.

Dressing suggestively, is in the interpretation of the image presented. Two women can wear the same outfit, and depending on how she does her hair makeup and her body type and carries herself. One can have a trashy look, and the other can look classy.

Personality and confidence has a lot to do with it as well, I have a female friend that could walk down the road naked and look classy doing it.

We men for the most part do not call a woman made up and dressed suggestively a slut, women call each other sluts for how they do their makeup and what they wear.

When most men refer to a woman as a slut, it is because of how she acts not how she is dressed. We don't consider a single woman a slut because she enjoys sex and plays the field, we label a female a slut when she has a boyfriend and is sexing other guys, or when a girl is sexing guys that know each other and hang out together.

If you need makeup to feel confident, to feel good about yourself and to feel beautiful. You have self esteem issues, you should not have to put on makeup to feel any of those things.

Learn to love yourself and accept who you are, and everything else falls into place. If you don't love yourself and accept the person who you are, do not expect anyone else to.

[Chief16]

Nope, behaving suggestively makes you a slut, part of why many people think that way is because its actually easier assume it so, even though its completely false. Your mind will settle with the thoughts you find most rational, most easily. Unfortunately media just endorses this thought culture. With no scientific fact or observation behind it, people are content with first impressions. Who gives a second thought these days?
Ofcourse there's a flipside, there are women who dress suggestively for the sole purpose of gaining attention, or your so called 'attention' whores who are the real targets of slut shaming, but why people diss on so many women dressing that way is solely because its much, much easier to generalize.

[Catalie]

I completely agree. Behaving suggestively makes you a slut. Not the act of wearing makeup/dressing suggestively. However, sometimes these things are associated with each other.

[Spiorad_Aisce]

You have heard of empowerment words but my view on the word "Slut" is a depowering word. So a slut is a woman that "Has many casual sexual partners", many questions spring to my mind "What is the male version of a slut?", "If a girl dresses prim and proper, goes out every night and gets laid by someone different, is she a slut?", "If a girl goes out dressed as a slut and declines all offers of sex, is she still a slut?"
The modern term slut is being used to define women who can be seen to be thinking for themselves, make their own choice, if she wants to have sex with a 100 men before settling down that it is nobody's business but hers.
That said it was easier in the old days when we could just brand these uppity women "witches" and burn them at the stake.

[Catalie]

A male version of a slut is a "fuckboy".
If a girl dresses prim and proper and goes out every night and gets laid by someone different, she is a slut (by definition)
If a girl goes out dressed like a slut all offers of sex, she is not a slut.

[kaylaS91]

Of course not. That sounds ridiculous to think that girls wearing make-up and embracing their sexuality by wearing more suggestive clothing when appropriate would have a guaranteed relationship with how 'slutty' they are.

Some people, myself included, don't feel like the only way to embrace their femininity is by being more demure and conservative. I like to occasionally wear tops that show off my waist-line/hips, things like that. Regardless, that doesn't change the fact that I've slept with just two guys, and am in a 2+ year-long relationship.

[Bandit74]

Well 1, first impressions matter a lot. They matter for getting employed they matter in dating, they matter for making friends. How you present yourself will unfortunately affect how people perceive you. When you are representing a company you are supposed to present yourself in a professional manner in hope that people perceive you as being professional. In your personal life when you dress in a way that people have come to associate with promiscuous women, they will inevitable assume you are also promiscuous. If you have a problem with people perceiving you that way then change the way you present yourself. Otherwise just deal with it. You can't force people to perceive you the way you want, you can only change how you are presenting yourself.

2. Most girls lie about their past anyway so even if using the way you dress as an indicator of your promiscuity isn't 100% accurate, its still more accurate than asking you.

[DrGtheMD]

You are actually riding a fine line. Of course you're not a slut but the way you dress and your use of makeup can make you look suggestive. That fine line is up to you and not anyone else. How you feel about yourself is the only thing that counts. Just realize that your appearance gives out signals vibrations. Even if those vibrations suggest qualities that you do not wish to have, the perception is what counts. In advertising it is said that, "perception equal reality." That means if you put a pretty girl on top of a car guys think that their perception of sexuality is the same for the girl and the car. Be yourself dress the way you want but no they may perceive more than you have to offer.

[RJGraveyTrain]

You know what makes someone a "slut"? Actually being a slut.

I don't believe regardless of someone's appearance that you can know their sexual history, because anything, no matter how clear, can be a ruse.

[Catalie]

Exactly. You can't judge someone's sexual history based on how they choose to dress and if they wear makeup. What makes someone a slut is actually being one.

[RJGraveyTrain]

Indeed.

[damnwinter]

As much as we overestimate living in the 21st century, there are still social situations in which dressing provocatively is impolite and inappropriate. Take school, for example, or some work environments. In my opinion it is good to keep this dresscode. If we are to jump around naked like monkeys why do we pretend to be any different?
Then again, if, say, complete nakedness would be normalized socially, it would not be considered indecent anymore because it would not represent anything special, seeing as it is not hidden.

[LittleSally]

Nope... What makes someone a slut is by sleeping with a lot of people - or cheating on their SO. A man as well as a woman can be sluts...

But dressing provocatively can make people ASSUME someone is a slut - which is something socially embedded in them and it's mostly not their fault...

[4465loveyou5577]

Well, I've slept with a lot of people in fact sometimes I sleep with a new person every week. I've even slept with my brother a few times. And you wanna know what we did in that bed ;)

SLEEP

[LittleSally]

@4465loveyou5577 Ha Ha Ha

[9mfeo]

Anyone who believes that makeup or clothing have any real correlation to your sexual history is beyond stupid and cannot be dealt with. Leave them alone in their stupidity forever. Maybe you'll get lucky and they'll drown in the shower.

[AllThatSweetJazz]

No one really cares too much about how it's defined, it's derogatory, therefore people will use it to criticize if it can even vaguely associate it with you or someone they don't like.

That last picture for example, that is not an attractive look at all (to me anyway). So I can totally see people jabbing at it with 'slut'. For girls, the idea that it may actually be a good look might also prompt them to say slut in order to drag her down. It's not like they can flat out say she's horribly unattractive and no guy wants her but they can go the other way criticizing that she gets with lots of guys. Which is a separate idea that you didn't take apart.

[AllThatSweetJazz]

Also, I find it a bit iffy when people try to use google image searches to prove stuff, certainly when it's only one picture. So I did my own search.

"Slut"
https://i.imgur.com/hwUeShh.jpg
I don't see the big deal.

"Sluttly Makeup"
https://i.imgur.com/uV98YN7.jpg
To me, this says slutty is either used as a criticism of someone with retarded/too much makeup, to jab at someone attractive, or used facetiously to refer to excessive, but good, makeup. Again, really not seeing the big deal.

[madhatters4]

there's a hilarious and true Dave Chappelle bit about this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OBPaenkxdg

but as he says just because someone is dressed a certain way doesn't mean they are a certain way

[AleDeEurope]

Dude, I was thinking about that. Sure, she may not be a prostitute, but if she looks like one, she can't get mad if we're confused xD

[rjroy3]

You can look like a slut, without being a slut. So to answer your question, no. Dressing a certain way doesn't make it so. But people will treat you based on the way you present yourself to the world.

The old "if it looks like a duck and acts like a duck, it's probably a duck" holds true.

[aliceinwonderland69]

As a woman your screwed either way. If you don't were makeup your frumpy but if you do your a slut.

[Catalie]

Exactly!

[gobsmacked3]

I disagree, it is not even a 'topic'

The term 'slut' is an archaic term that has no relevance in the 21st century and it is almost surreal why so many give empowerment to it, particularly women..

Women are free to dress and act as they please, key is they embrace this fact

[Catalie]

The way people use it however is extremely negative.

[gobsmacked3]

The people who use it are trying to maintain the traditional status quo of power over women. It is your responsibility as a young woman, and in fact all women to be part of the generation that ignores this and puts an end to it

[jacquesvol]

Here's a better definition of the noun 'slut' :

s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/.../...12f4fde8fe.jpg

[ieshaahmed786]

Such a really good topic u chose... Many people say that celebs only know to wear make up and do sex... Many people are prejudiced... It gives almost woman confidence when confidence ,... Many people don't know the meaning of words but they use it no matter what...
I like your mytake and the topic u chose for ur mytake...

[teawrecks]

Just came here to say I read "does" as "dogs" and now I can't read the title any other way 😐

[Catalie]

Haha

[pervertedjester]

I've always fought that term in context to women. If I hear it used I question the user. Where did you hear that, how did they know that, do you know her? Usually after 3 questions people start thinking for themselves again. It happens at work a lot.

[takumii]

Whats the fucking mystery in that?

Wearing a soccer shirt makes you a soccer player? No
But it makes you look like a soccer player.

Wearing make up and suggestive clothing makes you a slut?
No
But it makes you look like a slut.