5 Things You Need to Know About Slut Shaming

In 2013, Emily Lindin started the UnSlut Project, which is a collection of her old diary entries from middle school that show the kind of devastating damage slut-shaming causes. She wanted to help other women and girls who also experienced sexual bullying who, like her, might not feel comfortable confiding in adults. “I would have loved to have some reassurance that this time would pass and my life would get better,” Emily says. Her openness, however, sparked others to contribute their own stories too, which brings us to the UnSlut documentary.

Slut: A Documentary features the stories of girls who were driven to suicide by sexual bullying and women who have experienced slut-shaming, including Samantha Gailey Geimer, the minor involved in the 1977 Roman Polanski case. The documentary offers interviews featuring media figures, sexologists, psychologists, and other experts, including former WWE wrestler, RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network) volunteer, and now UnSlut executive producer Mick Foley. The film also demonstrates just how deeply slut-shaming affects schools, teens, and communities, and how easily it can spread via social media.

While the documentary isn’t available for purchase just yet, public screenings started in September, and you can see it by checking out their schedule here. Until then, check out the five things we learned from the people interviewed in Slut: A Documentary.

“Young people ask me all the time, ‘How do I know if I’m ready to have sex?’ If you cannot talk about sex, you are not ready to have sex. If you can’t say to your partner, 'When was the last time you were tested? Can we get tested together? This is what I like when it comes to sex, and this is what I don’t like.’ You should not be having sex, because you need to be able to have those conversations first.”

Dr. Ebony Utley, Ph.D, intimacy expert, author, and professor

unslut project

picture: http://www.queenieaustralia.com/formal-dresses

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