"Slut Trends": What does "Slut" even mean anymore?

Part of my job is watching, discovering and documenting as sex/gender trends emerge. For a while it seemed liked every sex book on the market was investigating the role of our brains in the whole fiasco... fascinating information, but seemed to be everywhere. Recently I have been seeing the word slut creeping around. Is this a new trend or an old trend revitalized?

For a long time this was a word used to diminish a woman and along the way as with many other derogatory words has become self embraced and for some empowering. Take a look at the two new "Slut" trends and give me your thoughts?

SlutWalk: Most movements are in response to something...in this case, the Slutwalk began in Canada as a countering to a policeman's comments "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized." To fight against this type of ignorance the SlutWalk began and now is an international phenomena.

"DePaul University law professor Deborah Tuerkheimer examines the SlutWalk phenomenon in a new thesis and she argues that the “rise of sex-positivity,” as she calls it, is “the most significant feminist initiative in decades.” 'What’s distinctive about this reclamation is that women are insisting both on sex without rape, and on sexuality without judgment,' said Emily Baselon in a Slate.com op-ed...Baselon adds that protest movements like SlutWalk have the power to change legislation, how rape is defined and how rape statistics are gathered."

To read more: http://bigthink.com/ideas/proud-to-be-a-slut?utm_source=Big+Think+Weekly+Newsletter+Subscribers&utm_campaign=416ac25f70-Wed_3_7_Asteroid_wake_up_call3_7_2012&utm_medium=email

Slutever: Karley Sciortino's blog "Slutever" (with posts back to 2007) is now a new video series on Vice. Sciotino description of the content is "a blog intended to trick strangers into thinking my life is more exciting than it actually is." And this is what Sciortino posted on March 30, 2012 about the new show:

"Finally! The VICE Slutever show is here! I really hope you like it. The first four episodes will air every Friday for the next month on vice.com. I’ve been making the show with my BFF, director/producer Adri Murguia (who also hosts stuff for Vice too, check THIS out). Not to be cheesy, but we feel really proud that this is the first ever show on Vice that is being made for girls by girls. That’s cool, right? I mean, all those other documentaries VICE make about guns and war in the Middle East are cool and stuff, but TBH tampons and sex slaves are equally as important, and I feel like until now they haven’t been given a fair amount of attention. Or whatever." Check it out either at vice http://www.vice.com/slutever/dating-101 or on her blog: http://slutever.com/