Skanks & sluts

Indigo Som indigo at WELL.COM
Fri Feb 21 01:18:52 UTC 2003


I think I know of 3 kinds of "skank":
1) Skanky, from high school & college (80s), meant anything or
anybody gross, smelly, dirty, unsavory. You could say a room was
skanky, or an article of clothing, as well as a person. It wasn't
gendered & it wasn't specifically sexual. You could say "I'm going to
take a shower; I feel really skanky."
2) Reggae/rasta "skanking" for dancing. I noticed someone mentioned
it for moshing, which makes sense given the ska-punk connection.
3) Current, sexualized/slutty skank & skanky which y'all have been
discussing. I'm not as familiar w/ it because I'm getting old & unhip
;)

I have a very definite sense that "slut" moved from female-only
(pre90s) to female + gay male (90s) to its current status (beginning
late 90s), which I think is not *quite* gender neutral. When you say
it to straight men it retains a little bit of irony or self-conscious
coolness derived from some mixture of: genderbending, being
in-the-know about gay culture, &/or being an equal-opportunity
epithet user.

Also "slut" has lost almost all of its negativity. When I was in high
school it was a terrible insult to call someone a slut. Now you can
call your friends sluts & they just smile & shrug.

Ho is close behind, almost interchangeable w/ slut in many
situations. But ho retains more of its power to insult.

As for skanky ho -- that's bad.
--
Indigo Som
indigo at well.com
www.indigosom.com

Music this week: early 80s Sweet Honey in the Rock



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