Turn on the tv.
What do you see?
Twilight - - two Europeans falling in love.
Me Before You- Two Europeans falling in love.
The Fault in our Stars- two European's falling in love.
Pride and Prejudice- two Europeans falling in love.
The Notebook- two Europeans falling in love.
Titanic - two Europeans falling in love.

See a pattern?

What does the media say about the 'rest of the world' (aka non-white)?
Australian media is all about stopping immigration, seeing different cultures as a threat to our society. Asians are seen as smart, but they steal our jobs.
Africans are seen as strong, but they must rape and murder.
Aboriginals are seen as Australian, but they are dole bludgers and dont contribute to the community.

And immigrants? Oh dear.
They want to bomb us.
They want to take over with their religions.
They want to simultaneously steal our jobs and rely on Centrelink (apparently thats possible? :D ).
They want to take control and bring over their families and communities to live here too.

How threatening. ;P

Now, into this world of the visually perfect European relationship and threatening different cultures enter me, white Aussie blonde girl with privilege, and the man I married- a shorter immigrant from the Philippines.

In our first year of dating I had my well-meaning friends and family make comments.
"Are you sure he isnt using you so he can live in Australia?"
"Dont think of bringing an Asian into the family"
"I just cant understand him, his accent is so strong"
"Are you sure he is genuine?"
"You know its a lot harder to be in a multicultural relationship, he wont ever understand you, and you wont understand him"
"Why dont you want to be with an Aussie?"

Disclaimer- we laugh about these comments now, we have all grown a lot in the last few years.

My relationship has been viewed as a sham, people notice us in public and are shocked when we mention we are married. The assumption that he is using me for a place to live, is a normal conversation I have to have.

But you know what? My relationship with him as been easier than I ever expected.
You know why?

Dating is about getting to know someone, building intimacy to see if you can be a strong couple together.
I had to go into dating knowing that I cannot assume anything about him, his ideas about life and his culture.
I was open as I asked every question about his childhood, his country, his experiences in highschool, how he perceives relationships, and his culture.
And as I got these answers, I felt hundreds of similarities. He was human, he knew what it felt like to be loved by his mum, judged by his highschool peers, he understood music the way I did, he understood faith the way I did.
I became more open-minded as I tried new foods, learnt how to be respectful to his parents and learnt some parts of his language.
My heart? It felt home.
I felt at home in his culture, I understood it and it made a lot of sense to me.
I enjoyed doing things differently, I enjoyed the adventure of seeing things the way he did.
And he felt the same way.
He learnt how to cook an Aussie barbecue, and watch the footy drinking beer. He learnt that my dad was a bit overprotective, that my family always got together to watch State of Origin, that we all worked at the family business.

We found many similarities,
and we embraced and loved our differences.

I love the way he sings to me, because filipino dating culture has a strong part of serenading (because of Spanish roots). I love how his culture is so respectful of others, the way they talk, they show they love and respect their elders- something Australian culture lacks.

He loves eating snags (sausages on a barbecue), and he loves the way I cook spagetti bolognese. He has taken to drinking beer, and loves our humour.

Being in a multicultural relationship is amazing. Its a fusing of the best of two different cultures. Its becoming more open minded to different ideas, and it means that our kids will be smarter because they will speak two languages.

Stop the judgy comments.
Get to know someone for who they are.
Learn about other cultures before you go labeling them "a threat".
Dont judge someone by their outward appearance.
The heart matters.
Love doesnt have a colour.

SLUT- (noun) Disparaging and Offensive. a sexually promiscuous woman, or a woman who behaves or dresses in an overtly sexual way.

Credit:  http://www.dictionary.com/browse/slut

You are walking down the street, you put an effort this morning into wearing a nice outfit and being creative with your make-up. You walk past some boys from your high school and as you pass them you hear them laughing, 'What a slut'.

You are sitting eating lunch at your workplace, your manager has it out for you and before you knew it spread a rumour that you slept around and even has an STD. Your fellow employee's start smiling every time you walk past them. And one of them even comes up to you and says, 'do you have any plans tonight, slut?'

Face it. Sometimes on a daily basis females are attacked with degrading, sexualised attacks on the way we dress, what our figures are like, and if we behave with confidence or not. Usually these attacks come in the form of a single word- SLUT.

But, the next time you are called a slut. I want you to remember these little facts.

The first time the word 'slut' was used. 
Geoffrey Chaucer, an amazing writer back in the 13th century wrote 'The Canterbury Tales', where the word 'sluttish' was used for the very first time in English history. However, the word was used to describe a male. This male was not dressed well and had an untidy appearance, maybe even some bed hair. And for that, he was called sluttish.

The history of the word 'slut'.
As history passed and the word changed into a term used only for a female prostitute or a kitchen maid. When used in reference to a kitchen maid, it literally was defined as someone who did a service or task for their lord or boss. It did not necessarily have sexual connotations. It was just meant as maid who did her job. However, the use of slut when referring to a female prostitute is where we get the meaning for slut today. Todays meaning for slut originated from that, but has also changed into not meaning 'paid sexual behaviour' but into a very loose and generalised 'sexual behaviour'. That means any female who demonstrates any sexual behaviour can be called a slut in the 21st century.

The definition is very generalised. 
When I say the word slut, I get the idea of someone thats showing a lot of skin, sleeps around with different men every night and uses her feminine features to get things from other people. However, you probably have a very different idea of what a slut is. I know some people believe certain dress styles are 'slutty' and high heel shoes often are called 'slutty' as well. You see, the definition for a slut is so general, it can cover almost anything. You could even be called a slut for wearing a bright colour . Because we all have a different idea of what defines the world slut. If this word can be used to degrade you simply for wearing a pair of shoes, do you really think you should allow it to hurt you? What other people think does not matter, and how they define it does not need to affect you. It shows you more how messed up they are to think that being a slut is simply an item of clothing or a confidence in the way you walk. They are the ones with a problem, it is not you.

There is no such thing as a sexually loose man- apparently. 
Did you know that in the 21st century, we have no male version of the word 'slut'? Slut is always used to refer to a woman. But there is no word that describes a sexually loose man. Even similar words such as hoe only have a female connotation. The only word to have no gender attached is 'prostitute'. Interestingly, society says that females are sluts if they are too sexual. Women are demeaned if they dress in a certain way, act too confident or have a healthy sex life. Yet, society says that if a man is not highly sexual, then he is not a real man. Men are told that something is wrong with them if they do not act like- well, like sluts.  So women are told they are sluts, and men are told to be real men. Does that sound right to you? Does that sound like gender equality?

So next time your called a slut. Laugh with them. Because the true facts are, society is has created this generalised, female only, degrading word to explain any type of sexual activity. You are an empowered female walking free of these labels, because they are not who you are. Don't let any male or female call you this, because it has never been true. Hold your head high, and laugh at them. Because they have got it so wrong.