Sandra Fluke Suggests To ‘The View’ That Anti-Slut-Shaming Could Become A Family Value

Sandra FlukeSandra Fluke appeared on The View today where she responded to Rush Limbaugh‘s apology and elaborated more on his distortion of the real issue at hand: affordable coverage for women who need birth control for health issues. But when reacting to how Rush caved in response to his pulled advertisers, Sandra reminded the audience that Americans have always aligned their family values with their support of companies. And you don’t need to remember One Million Moms flipping out at Ellen DeGeneres being JCPenney’s spokesperson to be reminded of that fact. [tagbox tag=”slut-shaming”]

Sandra Fluke told The View ladies that she finds Rush’s apology to have alternative incentives rather than a remorse for slut-shaming. However, perhaps these companies recognize what usually comes with a public backlash — a cut to profits. All Ms. Fluke was willing to say on the issue was:

“Americans have a long tradition of supporting companies that share the values they have and I’m sure that they will continue to uphold that tradition.”

American consumers putting their money where their family values are has always been something I like to hear, from mothers vowing to spend even more money at JCPenney to support Ellen DeGeneres to others tripling their Girl Scout cookie orders in response to hateful scare tactics against children. But what’s most evident coming out of this national conversation surrounding slander and women is that Rush Limbaugh is not alone. You clearly don’t need to be a conservative talk show host to hurl the term “slut” at a woman or girl that you disagree with, as illustrated in Sandra Fluke’s Twitter feed. And for mothers and fathers concerned with raising sons who respect the debate and ideas of female counterparts, as well as parents looking to bring up those female counterparts, all of this is relevant.

However, what this debate reminds us, along with the controversy surrounding Ellen DeGeneres, is that “family values” is becoming an increasingly fluctuating and fluid term. To many modern families, “family values” now captures a respect for not just women and girls but also LGBTQ individuals. And wouldn’t it be wonderful to live in world where parents who identified slut-shaming in an advertisement, a TV show, or in a radio program simply pulled their support for the sake of not just their own daughters, but everyone else’s. Being opposed to slut-shaming is certainly one of my personal family values, but with Sandra Fluke taking the center stage with regard to this issue — and the national discourse that has followed — perhaps we can welcome this one to many homes throughout America.

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