In his Oct. 10 Saturday Night Live (SNL) monologue, American comedian Shane Gillis joked that women at the gym dress like “whores” these days. The backlash was swift and widespread, in the news and across social media. Critics zeroed in on the sexualization of women who are simply trying to exercise without being harassed or judged.
While that’s fair, much of the criticism overlooked another problem. The objections often came down to this: these women aren’t sex workers, so they shouldn’t be called “whores.” That response leaves the insult itself intact, along with the assumption that being compared to a sex worker is degrading.
