“Rave Slut”

When it comes to EDM music, there will be just about anyone at a rave or concert. I met a 45-year-old man with his wife at an Armin van Buuren concert in New York, danced the night away with my some lovely bruins at Swedish House Mafia’s Masquerade Hotel in Los Angeles, and met some awesome French kids at a rave in Paris. It is one of the beautiful things about electronic dance music – it brings different types of people together from all over the world. No matter where you are, the second you step through the lights and immerse yourself in the music, you’ve entered a new place unlike any other. Almost like a country, EDM culture has its own motto and standard of living – peace, love, unity and respect, typically known as PLUR.

For the most part, PLUR is clearly exhibited at EDM events. Peace is almost always maintained – I have never witnessed a fight or even an argument at rave. Love is always evident – people go to raves all the time with friends they love and spend hours enjoying each other’s company while soaking in the abundance of happy music. Unity is another aspect of PLUR that I personally have seen at rave events – I have made friends with complete strangers and I have ever rarely felt more comfortable being myself anywhere else than at an EDM concert. The people are so unified in embracing originality, so even though you’re all different, you’re all united in your differences. The only part of PLUR that I’ve seen abused, which is perhaps the most important, is respect.

Regarding respect, people tend judge the girls at raves, in particular the girls referred to as “kandi girls” or in the derogatory way “rave sluts”. These women are typically referred to as rave sluts because they wear unique clothing. A lot of girls that go to raves tend to wear clothes that show off a lot of skin, similar to bikinis.Some girls just wear ornate, brightly colored bras and bedazzled underwear coupled with a pair of fuzzy boots, while others go to raves in corsets and converse. These girls are expressing themselves – they are wearing what they want to an event that should represent PLUR. However, these women tend to be judged by others at EDM events.

One great example of disrespect is made evident in an article on unrulybodies.com

The author of the article claims that while at a Dada Life event, a man she had never met read her shirt and “thought it said ‘touch these tits,’ or something equally childish, and proceeded to squeeze [her] breasts.” This man simply assumed that because a woman was dressed a certain way it would be acceptable to grab her breasts. That was a terrible assumption. The woman did not give the man permission in any way to touch her, but he assumed that just because she was dressed a certain way it would be acceptable.

Additionally, women should dress how they want and not be judged for it.

Elitedaily.com has a certain viewpoint on rave girls:

 “This fucking girl. This girl could actually fall under the ‘Coke Whore’ category because she also whores herself out for drugs. She doesn’t actually care about EDM, she just cares about buying neon colored sports bras and booty shorts, covering her body in glitter, rolling face, and sucking on lollipops… amongst other things.”

Evidently, because a girl wears a colorful sports bar and wears booty shorts, she must also “whore herself out for drugs.” If this is logical, then simply because one wears a neon colored bikini to the beach one must be “whoring out for drugs.”Conversely, if one does not wear colorful sports bras, one is definitely not “whoring out for drugs”, right? All of these claims are false. Just because a woman dresses a certain way does not make her a “coke whore”. This type of disrespect is unacceptable, illogical, and simply unnecessary.

At the end of the day, I can wear what I want to wear when I go to a rave or a concert. I can wear a lacy bra and booty shorts. I can wear a torn up shirt. I can wear a neon-colored sports bra. And whatever I decide to wear, I should be respected as a human being. As a woman. That is the goal of the EDM culture.Peace. Love. Unity. Respect.