Word To Ponder: Skank

Calling a woman a skank is ill-advised, so don’t be surprised about anything that comes your way from it. Begging off while thinking you can convince her you’re referring to the style of dance for reggae or ska music won’t work either.

The problem I have with this word is how laden it is of judgment. Not just with how others use it, but even the way the word is defined. “One who is considered to be sexually promiscuous, especially of a woman” is rife with assumptions.

A woman scantily clad is enough for some to conclude she is easy to bed. Some women may be inappropriately dressed, but isn’t necessarily an indication of how many sexual partners she’s had or will have.

How could someone be “considered” sexually promiscuous? Being a flirt, perhaps? A woman who is a scantily clad flirt could be assumed to be sleeping around or have many sexual partners. Still, the picture is incomplete.

I’ve known plenty of women who simply enjoy and appreciate the attention they receive when they doll themselves up, revealing clothing or not. Some are a tad naïve in their hopes and/or expectations of men around attractive women.

A woman saying they’re not interested to a man expressing interest should be enough. The men who can’t take that simple statement for what it is will assume the woman is playing hard to get because of how she’s dressed.

The kindest rejection is still rejection and an affront to some men’s manhood, and the true selves of those men may come…