Apparently, Madonna is part of the new "slut vote" constituency. At least according to Kathryn Jean Lopez of The National Review, who is positively fed up with the singer's "whore-at-fifty-shtick." Ha! I thought we had exhausted the topic of Madge's unabashed sexuality back when she rolled beneath heaps of tulle at the MTV awards during the Reagan Administration. All the hip cultural conservatives have long since shifted their targets to those filthy Bratz Dolls and the characters from Sex and the City. Why is Madonna the whore du jour again? Oh, because she doesn't support John McCain.
Interestingly, eighty-eight years ago, suffragists who fought for the right to vote were similarly maligned--their reputations, sexuality, and femininity were called into question. Now women endure gendered insults based on which type of voter we are, from the witchy, shrewish harridans for Hillary to the dumb, frivolous sluts for Obama.
But Madonna has a point: Why would any self-respecting slut vote for a man poised to snatch away our reproductive rights? McCain opposes making birth control, healthcare, and family planning accessible for low income women, he supports abstinence-only education and the global gag rule, and he simply can't wait to overturn Roe v. Wade. Predictably, the "asshole-at-seventy-one" is also content to treat gays as second class citizens. So he's the wrong choice for anyone in favor of sexual freedom, including strumpets, harlots, hussies, floozies, tramps, tarts and trollops.
Slut Voters unite, and express yourselves at the polls!