I Am Not a Slut

The author of the groundbreaking work Slut! explores the phenomenon of slut-shaming in the age of sexting, tweeting, and “liking.” She shows that the sexual double standard is more dangerous than ever before and offers wisdom and strategies for alleviating its destructive effects on young women’s lives.

Young women are encouraged to express themselves sexually. Yet when they do, they are derided as “sluts.” Caught in a double bind of mixed sexual messages, young women are confused. To fulfill the contradictory roles of being sexy but not slutty, they create an “experienced” identity on social media-even if they are not sexually active—while ironically referring to themselves and their friends as “sluts.”

But this strategy can become a weapon used against young women in the hands of peers who circulate rumors and innuendo—elevating age-old slut-shaming to deadly levels, with suicide among bullied teenage girls becoming increasingly common. Now, Leora Tanenbaum revisits her influential work on sexual stereotyping to offer fresh insight into the digital and face-to-face worlds contemporary young women inhabit. She shares her new research, involving interviews with a wide range of teenage girls and young women from a variety of backgrounds as well as parents, educators, and academics. Tanenbaum analyzes the coping mechanisms young women currently use and points them in a new direction to eradicate slut-shaming for good.

This urgent work of cultural criticism and feminist analysis reveals:

• The Sexual Double Standard: Explore why young women are caught in a double bind—encouraged to be sexual, yet shamed when they express themselves.
• Social Media and Identity: Uncover how the pressures of sexting, tweeting, and "liking" force girls to build an "experienced" online persona, whether it’s real or not.
• Bullying and Its Consequences: Confront the devastating real-world impact of digital harassment, from ruined reputations to the tragic rise in suicide among teenage girls.
• Actionable Strategies for Change: Based on new research and interviews, discover concrete wisdom for young women, parents, and educators to fight back against slut-shaming and create lasting change.