What is The UnSlut Project?
The UnSlut Project started out as a blog of my own diary entries from when I was sexually bullied in middle school and quickly evolved into an online community for women to share their own experiences with slut shaming and sexual bullying. The UnSlut Project has two goals: to reach out to girls who are currently suffering and offer them some hope for the future; and to demonstrate the extent of sexual bullying and “slut shaming” in our schools, media, and culture, so that we might all work toward change. It’s intended to be collaborative and ongoing.
What inspired you to begin this initiative?
About a year ago, I was visiting my parents at the house where I grew up and discovered my old diaries. Reading through them for the first time in over a decade, I was transported back to a time when I had been labeled the school “slut.” When I heard the awful news stories about teenaged girls committing suicide after being sexually bullied, I was reminded of my own adolescence. I thought that if I shared my diaries online, they might somehow reach another girl who was currently suffering before she made the decision to take her own life, and perhaps demonstrate to her that she could overcome this type of bullying just like I had. It turned into something much bigger very quickly.
In Canada, we’ve had two high profile cases of sexual bullying, the tragic cases of Amanda Todd and Rehtaeh Parsons. Are known and reported instances coming to light more now?
I’m not sure if more instances are being reported, but they’re certainly being received differently now that we have seen so many examples of this type of tragedy. Rather than being seen as isolated instances, these cases are understood to be representative of a larger problem in a society that would allow this to happen.
What types of actions can people take to work against slut-shaming and sexual bullying?
I think one of the problems in the way bullying is generally talked about is that we frame it as a childhood and/or teenaged issue, one that we as adults must monitor and prevent. Especially with slut shaming and sexual bullying, adults are often a big part of the problem. Girls who are the victims of this particular type of bullying, like LGBT youth, might not feel they can confide in their parents or other adults in their community whom they would otherwise trust, because those adults might shame them just like their peers have been. So the first action we can take is to evaluate our OWN behaviors and prejudices. Almost all of us have some kind of hang-up when it comes to female sexuality because of the culture we’ve grown up in, whether or not we speak of it or act on it. Our kids pick up on that and mirror it in their own interactions. In addition, we need to work to implement comprehensive sex education—which includes LGBT issues and information about sex for pleasure—in our schools. Approaching sex comfortably rather than with fear and shame can undo the idea of a “slut” in the first place.
Are you familiar with any areas that have enacted laws or education programs that have significantly helped?
Comprehensive sex ed is supported by leading medical professional and public health organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Public Health Association, the Institute of Medicine, and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. I can’t vouch for a specific comprehensive sex education program, since I’ve never experienced one myself. But as of now in the United States, according to the Guttmacher Institute, only 18 states and the District of Columbia require that sex education programs even include information on contraception. And no state legally requires that it be “stressed.” Without comprehensive sex ed required by law, it’s much more difficult to change attitudes about sexuality from a young age.
What will be the focus of the documentary?
The point of the film is to spread the word about how dangerous sexual bullying and slut shaming can be, to reach a broad audience and start conversations among people who might never have considered this issue. We will tell the stories of women who have been slut shamed in varying capacities and ways, and feature experts who can speak to the best ways to move toward a world where women aren’t made to feel guilty or inferior for their sexuality, starting right here in the United States and Canada.
