Social work professionals working with adolescents will most likely find themselves facilitating discussion, designing a program, teaching a class, or providing counseling around the issues of teen sexuality. Adolescent attitudes about sex, sexual practices and perceived sexual practices; peer conflict and conformity practices; and teen alienation of "outsiders" are topics which social workers must be knowledgeable of, and, more importantly, able to discuss with teens: freely, objectively, and without prejudice.One's own prejudices are called into question immediately upon picking up Slut! Growing Up Female with a Bad Reputation, by Leora Tanenbaum (2000). The title, as "in your face" as
graffiti on a bathroom wall, is perfect: to be considered a "slut," with all its negative sexual connotations, generally has little to do with actual sexual practices, and everything to do with sexual stereotyping and gender roles. "Slut" is a term that has absolute power only for girls, never for boys
-- it's used not only to condemn and restrict the sexual girl, but to structure the social realm of girls' adolescence and create insider and outsider status. Additionally, "ho," "slut," "freak," "skeeze," and all the other terms used to put down girls by other females and teenage boys serve to reinforce the paradox of teenage sexuality: sex is everywhere, everyone is doing it, you should be doing it, did you
do it? Why did you do that!!?? Or: if all the girls around you are "nice girls", and only a couple of "sluts," then who are all these boys having sex with?
...
The fear of being branded a sexual female is directly related to the dueling religious and historical concepts of woman as either pure, good, virginal, and eternally unspoiled (Mary; Princess
Kitty; Melanie Wilkes), or earthy, evil, scandalous and sexual (Eve; Anna Karenina; Scarlett O'Hara). Tanenbaum summarizes the history of female sexuality, culminating in a discussion of the
impact of the feminist movement of the 1960's and 70's on female sexuality, and the subsequent retreat and backlash from that movement.
The ongoing split of female sexuality into one of the two categories, with the attendant moral associations, continues, with ever more disparate images thrust at young women from movies, television, and magazines. Even this book, with its brightly colored cover shouting "Slut!" provoked a number of eyebrow raisings and pointed questions: I can't say I would have been reading this book in public 11 years ago as a high school senior, for fear of association. It is just that fear of association which is then used as a method of controlling female sexuality -- and girls' behavior in general -- is one of the major causes of slut-bashing, as noted by the author.
Within the realm of girls, "slut-bashing" is a form of control. Again, "sluttiness" is rarely about actual sexual behavior; generally it's related to a girl breaking the mores of her peer group, whether inadvertently or intentionally, and her subsequent punishment: it's the present day equivalent of the scarlet letter. Tanenbaum notes that there is no single definable behavior which leads to being branded a "slut;" the ambiguous nature of the placement of the "slut" label serves its purpose. It's an umbrella term to punish, stifle, and isolate certain girls.
Since this book's publication, several other books have been published noting the pressure of sexual stereotyping and gender roles on girls' behavior toward other girls. The example of the
outsider being punished as a "slut" is one of three (the others are the sexual girl and the girl who is raped); however, Tanenbaum's use of the "outsider" role, within the feminist framework, enables the reader to understand that the outsider status, fear of this status, and girls' general outsider status
in comparison to boys is the larger issue. All girls are essentially victimized in this way; in the panic to attain some level of status (again, in comparison to the boys) girls turn on each other. Girls may be singled out and branded for being masculine (called a lesbian: again with its sexual connotations
but with additional social cost) or being fearless and putting themselves in potentially dangerous situations, or expressing interest in sex -- all things that are relegated to the realm of the masculine, and celebrated when exhibited by boys. When girls exhibit these behaviors, they go against the status quo and are judged and punished by their peer group.
One point that is not distinguished by Tanenbaum is the certain type of freedom accorded to girls who have branded others as "slut." These girls are generally doing the same sexual
experimenting as their peers: however, once someone else has been branded as slut, the focus of the peer group has been taken in another direction, leaving them opportunity to do what they want to do without a great deal of fear or recrimination.
As a discussion facilitator, the book, with its "taboo" title and topic, is extremely useful: Tanenbaum's narrative includes many personal accounts which will encourage discussion among
teens in group and classroom settings; her use of popular culture references bring examples home to teens as well as adults; and her informal writing style will be comfortable for teenage girls as well as professionals. Additionally, her thorough appendices assist the reader when looking for
additional materials to give to clients; Appendix B includes information from different sources, including webzines, magazines, organizational contact information, and a range of teaching tools.
For the new professional working with teens, the book is of great importance. Social workers are human (we are!) and as such we may carry our own stereotypes and hidden hurts with us from our own adolescence; whether we were "sluts," "slut-avoiders," or "slut-bashers," this book enables us to view our own experiences, and the experiences of our teenage clients, within a feminist historical perspective. If we haven't come to terms with our own issues about "sluttiness," sexual behavior, and sexual attitudes, how can we expect our clients to do the same?
