I was driving to work and listening to NPR (I'm not "old", I just love NPR) and I heard the story of Emily Lindin's, book, "Unslut". I was intrigued and it spoke to me. Not because I went through what she did, quite the opposite actually. I was intrigued because I remember girls in school be labeled "slut" and never quite grasping why or understanding why it was happening to them. I knew and was friends with some of the girls who were given this unfortunate label. I remember the confusion and heartache. One friend was labeled a "slut" because her bra strap broke in class! Another friend was called a slut because of a blue dress she wore to school one day, which wasn't any worst then any other dress anyone wore. She was just tall, slim and had a figure that could carry it. It came down simply to jealousy. Another girl was labeled a slut because a mutual friend found out she was taking birth control to regulate her periods. She was a virgin and hadn't even kissed a boy and she was a "slut" based on something medical.
I recall a handful of friends in tears over a label, perhaps a label we didn't even understand. What is a slut exactly? I had to google it, did you? I wanted a true definition. A slut is a woman who has many casual partners or a woman with a low standard of cleanliness. I knew the first definition but what constitutes too many casual partners and who sets those standards?
In an ideal world the slut shamming would stop but in the real world it just isn't going to happen any time soon.
Lindin's diary is in so many ways full of innocence and self discovery. It offers perhaps one of the most true looks into the life of being young.
Read it, share it and pass it along to a teen.
Grade: A
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