--- title: Why Amber Rose Decided to Reclaim the Word 'Slut' description: Amber Rose has opened up about why she chose to reclaim the word "slut" rather than allow it to be used against her in a derogatory manner. canonical: https://time.com/4961144/amber-rose-slut-walk-essay/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-28T16:41:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:47:39.611Z og:title: Why Amber Rose Decided to Reclaim the Word 'Slut' og:description: "The term 'slut' never seemed to go away" og:url: https://time.com/4961144/amber-rose-slut-walk-essay/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca119e441f0f0d02/6988a828bc6cfc51c23dec0d/gettyimages-599939538.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3564 og:image:height: 2005 og:image:alt: Dancing With The Stars Cast Visits Planet Hollywood og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Amber Rose Decided to Reclaim the Word 'Slut' twitter:description: "The term 'slut' never seemed to go away" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca119e441f0f0d02/6988a828bc6cfc51c23dec0d/gettyimages-599939538.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Amber Rose Decided to Reclaim the Word 'Slut' > Sponsored content. 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Bruce Glikas—Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Sep 28, 2017 4:41 PM UTC [Amber Rose](http://time.com/4399438/amber-rose-show-feminism-black-lives-matter/) has opened up about why she chose to [reclaim the word “slut”](http://time.com/4197591/amber-rose-learned-to-stop-caring-what-people-think/) rather than allow it to be used against her in a derogatory manner. In an essay for [_Marie Claire_](http://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/a12479685/amber-rose-slut-walk-essay/)ahead of her third annual [Los Angeles SlutWalk](http://amberroseslutwalk.com) — a march that combats the stigma surrounding women and sexuality — the 33-year-old model and actor shared her personal experience with [slut-shaming](http://time.com/36997/when-enforcing-school-dress-codes-turns-into-slut-shaming/). “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been called a slut,” she wrote. “From the time I was a young girl—even before I was sexually active—it was a label that was placed on me. As soon as I came into the public eye, I was immediately criticized for everything from my behavior to how I chose to dress. It was undoubtedly hurtful, and getting used to the harsh words I hear so often is still something I struggle with.” Muva — as her fans affectionately refer to her — went on to explain why she chose to begin self-identifying with the label. “The term ‘slut’ never seemed to go away—in fact, I began to realize that I’d be called a slut whether I behaved according to other people’s standards or not,” she wrote. “So, I decided to take the power out of that word and reclaim it. I said f—k it, _hoe is_ _life_. But don’t get me wrong—this self-proclaimed hoe is a powerful woman and an unapologetic feminist.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4961144/amber-rose-slut-walk-essay/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4961144/amber-rose-slut-walk-essay/"},"headline":"Why Amber Rose Decided to Reclaim the Word 'Slut'","datePublished":"2017-09-28T16:41:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:47:39.611Z","description":"\"The term 'slut' never seemed to go away\"","url":"https://time.com/4961144/amber-rose-slut-walk-essay/","keywords":["Newsfeed","feminism","celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca119e441f0f0d02/6988a828bc6cfc51c23dec0d/gettyimages-599939538.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca119e441f0f0d02/6988a828bc6cfc51c23dec0d/gettyimages-599939538.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Dancing With The Stars Cast Visits Planet Hollywood","caption":"Dancing With The Stars Cast Visits Planet Hollywood","creditText":"Bruce Glikas—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4961144/amber-rose-slut-walk-essay/","name":"Why Amber Rose Decided to Reclaim the Word 'Slut'"}}]}] ```