Slut Shaming and Why it’s Wrong (x)
Doesn’t she seem a bit young to be talking about something like this…?
She’s obviously old enough to see it happening and to form her own opinions about it. Substantive discussion and critical thinking should never be discouraged, no matter what the age of the person. I watched her vids back when she was making them too, and she’s sharp as a tack.
At first I was a bit taken aback to see such a young girl talking about slut-shaming and, specifically, sex. She can’t be more than twelve or thirteen! But then I remembered that I was probably about her age when I first started getting slut-shamed and I figure she’s old enough to already be receiving it too so you know what? Good on you, girl.
I remember watching cartoons when I was about seven or eight, laying on the ground with my arms wrapped around a pillow and my legs starfished out to either side, enjoying some Tailspin or Gummi Bears, and my grandmother spotting me in that position. I don’t remember what she said specifically, but I perfectly recall the way the venom in her voice made me feel tiny and disgusting while she commanded me to close my goddamn legs because that’s not how good girls sit (not a criticism ever leveled at my brother).
I remember regularly being chased around my house throughout high school to escape my mom’s attacks and worrying if the tiny lock on the bathroom door would be strong enough to withstand her throwing her entire body weight against it, trying to break it down as she’d scream about what a slut, a whore, I am, over and over. Except for a tiny peck-on-the-lips kiss I’d encountered during a game of Truth or Dare when I was twelve, I had no romantic physical contact until I turned eighteen, so being accused of slutting out was the most misplaced accusation she could possibly invent. But I was a female, and in my family (on the maternal side), that meant you were a slut until proven innocent. My grandmother did it to my mother and her sisters and they did it to their daughters, passing down their internalized misogyny and hatred of sex to each new generation of women in our family.
Finding out that sex can be something other than “A thing you just have to do to keep your husband from leaving you” (true quote, from my mother to me!) was world-changing for me. This is where my sex positive comics come from. This is why it’s so important for me to talk about sex and show it being fun and healthy. I do this because I can’t go back in time and protect my younger self, but maybe I can reach another young person who’s in the same place I was at that age.
So yeah, young-looking-lady in those animated .gifs. I’m glad you know sex is not something you should be ashamed of and that people who try to shame you for it are wrong. You rock the fuck on. Good on you.
(Source: thecouscousqueen, via apsychopsychic)
