I did that once

Why “Fat Slut” doesn’t work as an insult

(tw: misogyny, fat-hate, triggering language, general douchbaggery

I just discovered fatuglyorslutty.com, which has quickly become my new favorite website.  It’s a place to call out and shame gamers who insult, threaten, and debase women on their video game platforms of choice.  The site’s tagline is, “You play video games?  So are you fat, ugly, or slutty?”

Of course, this is always the trifecta that misogynists love to call upon.  A woman is always fat, ugly, or slutty, no exceptions.  Even women who buy into the Patriarchy, 100% wholeheartedly and without question falls into one of these categories.

I’ve been called fat, ugly, or slutty hundreds of times.  It used to affect me as a kid.  I wanted to be beautiful and desirable, not fat, ugly, and slutty.  But now I literally could not care less.  Why?  Because these insults mean nothing.

Let’s break down why they’re meaningless.

Fat: The reason “fat” is an insult is because our culture says that being “fat” is shameful.  Society says that fat is equivalent to ugly, unattractive, lazy, undesirable, stupid, etc.  But it’s obviously not.  If fat people were worthless and unattractive, no fat person would have ever done anything of value or had sex.  That’s obviously far from the truth.  Look at how many prominent politicians are fat.  Writers, CEOs, and teachers can all be fat.  Fat people get married and have children ALL THE TIME.  If fatness was a definitive factor in one’s success or attractiveness, none of these situations would exist.  Fat is not an insult, it’s a description.

Ugly: I cannot think of any adjective less useful from “ugly.”  All it means is that a person, in some way, shape, or form, does not fit into the small box of what a particular society deems “attractive.”  But what one culture says is attractive isn’t what another culture, or even an individual in that culture finds attractive!  When you call someone ugly, you’re being as unspecific and unhelpful as you possibly could.

Slut: I love this word so much.  Why?  Because, like “ugly,” slut is completely meaningless.  You could ask twenty different people to define “slut,” and you will get twenty different definitions.  Basically, a slut is a woman who has sex more than the person you’re asking thinks is okay.  This could refer to the number of partners, the number of times a woman has sex, or even her secondary sex characteristics!  (Goodness knows, my 23-year-old-virgin ass used to get called a “slut” constantly for the terrible sin of having big boobs as a teenager.)

Which brings me to my favorite combination of these terms: the fat slut (or ugly slut).  Men and women alike love to throw this insult at anyone who does or is what they dislike.  And it means NOTHING.  Why?

Fat or ugly = “you are not attractive to me and therefore are not worthy of sex, e.g. the benefits our culture deems worthy only for the most attractive.”

Slut = “you have sex or appear to have sex more than I am comfortable with.”

So, a fat or ugly slut is someone who is not worthy of sex, but yet has more sex than the insulter is comfortable with.

By its very definition, a fat slut is a contradiction!  It’s not an insult on anyone but the person offering it up.  Not only is the insulter so low and insecure as to throw out a meaningless phrase, the insulter is not intelligent enough to create a meaningful insult!

QED motherfuckers.