Slut Shaming: 13-Year-Old Explains Why It's Wrong In YouTube Video
You know when a girl walks down the hallway wearing a low-cut shirt or short skirt and people start whispering about her outfit? Or when someone starts a rumor about a party hookup and suddenly the whole school starts looking at the girl differently? Some people call that behaviour "slut shaming."
This is the topic 13-year-old YouTube vlogger astrorice addresses in her video "Slut Shaming And Why It's Wrong." Her description of the video on her YouTube channel reads:
"While I am fully aware that this is a bit of an unorthodox topic for a thirteen year old virgin to be talking about, it's an important issue to discuss, and a great topic for girls my age to know about (to deny that demonstrates a clear lack of understanding as to what teenagers actually do and say)."
The video starts with a definition of the term "slut shaming," which she says is "the act of degrading or mocking a woman because she dresses in tight or revealing clothing, enjoys sex, has a lot of sex, or is rumored to be sexually active." And then she explains why participating in these types of conversations is not okay -- ever.
"It is nobody's business but your own how many people you're having sex with or how much sex you have. And you don't deserve to be hated on for being sexually active," she says in the video.
The vlog invites a large-scale discussion about how guys and girls talk about female sexuality, and although it was originally posted in August, it's making its way across across Tumblr this week and has been picked up by feminist sites such as Feministing.com.
The young YouTuber also asserts in the video that slut shaming contributes to rape culture and a culture of rape victim-blaming by sending the message that "sluts" are somehow "asking for it."
And it starts early. She says in the video, "I'm noticing a lot of girls my age starting to say it, and it just shocks me every time. How could they use such offensive language in such a casual manner? It's like they don't even know the meaning of their words, and that's the thing -- they don't know."
Do you notice harassing conversations, like slut shaming, happening at your school? How do they make you feel -- and how to you address them? Share your thoughts in the comments below or tweet @HuffPostTeen.
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First Posted: 01/11/2012 11:19 am Updated: 01/11/2012 1:10 pm