It’s Time to Stop “Slut Shaming” Girls & Women

“Hello, slut!”

He glared at me as he said this, and his eyes burned with rage that I didn’t want him anymore.

So his biggest, baddest weapon was to attempt to shame me for liberating myself from him and living as free and wild as I desired.

Or so he thought. 

He had zero information about what or whom I was doing at the time, and always chose to go straight to a gutter full of assumptions that in his mind, were the ultimate insults.

But I--and many, many women--refused to be shamed for rejecting society's double standard about women's sexuality and freedom.

Leading the charge is Stella O'Malley, a psychotherapist who is the bestselling author of Bullyproof Kids, and a celebrated TEDx speaker.

She's on a mission to stop "slut shaming" girls and teens, who become women, of course, and remain terrified of being called this terrible word that needs to be archived in a vault called, "words we never use anymore."

There is no parallel word for boys and men, who are called "studs" for flexing their sexual prowess.

My word is GODDESS.  Women who are free to be and do whatsoever we desire, whenever and with whomever we choose... wearing whatever clothes we want... that is GODDESS.

So what is slut shaming?  The action or fact of stigmatizing a woman for engaging in behavior judged to be promiscuous or sexually provocative.

That’s the online Dictionary definition. 

Unfortunately, slut shaming is not limited to simply nasty name calling. 
”Examples of slut-shaming include being criticized or punished for: violating dress code policies by dressing in perceived sexually provocative ways; requesting access to birth control; having premarital, extramarital, casual, or promiscuous sex; or engaging in prostitution. It can also include being victim-blamed for being raped or otherwise sexually assaulted.” 

This, according to Wikipedia.

And unfortunately, slut shaming can have dire consequences for a woman’s professional advancement. In fact, a highly respected male executive once “warned” me not to be seen around town with too many men because it would taint my reputation and hinder my success. Then he shared examples of high profile women who had done that, and had not ascended to the pinnacles of their fields as a result.

That said, this mindset and reality is absolutely enraging.

There is no such term for boys and men. 

They’re celebrated as studs when they flaunt their sexual prowess and bed a lot of women.  

Girls and women are shamed as sluts.

And now, with the warp speed intensity and ubiquitous power of social media and pornography, adolescent and teen girls are suffering tremendously.

That’s why speaker, bestselling author and psychotherapist Stella O’Malley is on a mission to end slut shaming girls and women.

She counsels them, and knows first hand the stories of girls being targeted, harassed and “slut shamed” on social media. 

“It’s shocking that we’re in 2022 and yet there’s this Victorian attitude to girls who might enjoy sex or who might enjoy their sexuality. i’m kind of stunned that I’m saying this.  When I was a teenager in the 80s and 90s, we haven’t moved on. Girls are sluts and boys are studs.”

She says people aren’t talking about this, so she is. Please listen to her TEDx Talk:

“We Need to Talk about Slut-Shaming Among Teenagers” is her TEDx Talk at Ballyroan Library. 

When I heard her TEDx Talk, her passionate work struck a chord and I extended an invitation for an interview. 

In this episode of The Goddess Power Show with Elizabeth Ann Atkins, Stella shares the grim realities of what’s really going on, and explains what all of us can do to help stop it.

Please learn more at StellaOMalley.com.  She's also the bestselling author of Bullyproof Kids where she addresses this topic.

And please visit TheGoddessPowerShow.com to learn more about my mission to empower women by exploring taboo topics that help us all live bigger, better and bolder, to manifest our hearts' wildest desires.

Please also subscribe to my YouTube channel where you can get a daily boost of motivation with my  "Good Morning, Goddess!" videos that pack a powerful punch of empowerment into a 1-minute video!

Because Goddess, YOU have the power!

In this episode, the music is by CHRONILLOGICAL / That Flavour / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com.