My husband wants me to dress as his slut when he takes me out or when he has friends over; is this normal?
I think it’s a mistake to worry too much about what is “normal”. “Normal” men in patriarchal societies tend to want their wives to dress in a way they perceive as modest; this derives from a desire to protect their “property” from those who might trespass or steal it. The more patriarchal the society, the more “modestly” it expects women to dress; in societies where women’s status is higher, women tend to dress more provocatively, and in those where it is lower, they tend to dress more concealingly. There are few if any exceptions, yet neofeminists teach a looking-glass version of reality in which dressing sexily is “objectification” and a manifestation of “patriarchy”, despite abundant real-world evidence that the exact opposite is true. Now, this is not to say that one individual man, or indeed large minorities of men, might not prefer women who “belong” to them dressed in a revealing fashion; however, the majority (“normal”) view has always been the opposite.
Given the language you use (“his slut”) your husband seems to belong to this minority category, which means that in the strictest sense of the word it is not “normal”. So what? Why does it matter whether something is “normal” or not? Most people deviate from the norm in at least a few ways, and nobody seems to think this is a problem except where sex is involved. Don’t concern yourself with whether his request is something the majority of men would want; rather ask how it makes you feel, and how it affects your relationship. Does it make you feel attractive and sexy to dress provocatively, or does it make you feel uncomfortable and ashamed? Does it make your husband happier? Does it seem to spice up your sex life? Do you like or dislike the way others react to you when you dress that way? Do you like to do it in certain circumstances, but not in others? These are the questions you need to ask yourself, rather than whether conventional people would approve. And if dressing like a “slut” at certain times (or even a lot of the time) works for you and makes you both happy, nobody else has a right to condemn you for your wardrobe choices.
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