We are at the edge of Spring Term and girls are already trading in their spandex for smooth, tanned, and bare legs, UGGs for high heels, and jeans for mini skirts. As I walk around campus, I marvel at the length of some of these supposed “skirts” – some ride so low on hips and high on thighs, I doubt that they can cover anything when the girls sit down. Shirts seem to have shrunk in the wash over Spring Vacation as well; pierced belly-buttons are bared everywhere and shrunken necklines are no longer able to contain burgeoning décolletage. Soon some freshman girls will begin to parade around campus in bikinis, pretending to sunbathe, but simply desperate to capture the attention of upperclassmen. This time of year makes me wonder: What makes a slut, a slut? (Am I the only one ever to ponder such a profound question?) It is not the number of hookups; there are many girls with long lists of boys who lack the demeaning label. How do these lucky girls manage to escape the unjust double standard? Though they hookup with plenty of boys, they never get labeled as sluts. Perhaps it is simply that some girls have a certain refined or “classy” air that prevents others from perceiving them as slutty. Unfortunately, other girls don’t even need to kiss tons of boys to be considered sluts. One fairly public hookup or skimpy outfit could instantly doom a girl into a lifetime of assumptions and rolled eyes. For those unlucky ones who cannot evade the label, but have not had an “incident” could their clothing choices be to blame? As the saying goes, “Clothes do not make the man” – or, for our purposes, the woman, and I have found this statement holds true in most cases. I have met plenty of girls wearing skimpy outfits, who though they are not chaste, are by no means sluts. But, how can one pick out a slut from an innocent, but scantily clad, girl? Can she be identified? Or will her revealing outfit automatically cause everyone to mislabel her? I realized that the girl will only be mislabeled among strangers. In a small community like Andover’s it is almost impossible to mistake a “normal” girl for her more lascivious counterpart, because you will probably already formed an idea of the girl’s persona based on classes, facebook.com, and gossip. Alright, so if neither clothes, nor a long list of kissed boys define a slut by themselves, what does? Could it be the types of boys she kisses? Do slutty girls kiss slutty boys? Though it is possible that the two comparable breeds may intersect at some point in their busy careers, the instances are not common enough to be the root of a slut’s reputation. Perhaps it is something else. I have a personal theory that girls with small breasts can never look slutty. Breasts are inherently sexual, and when a girl lacks them, how sexual can she appear in tight or low-cut shirts? If this is correct, then it would follow that girls with bigger breasts are more likely to be named as sluts. In my experiences, this has mostly proved true. One of my good friends from my middle school, who had a C-cup, constantly heard rumors about her supposed hook-ups – the majority of which were completely fabricated. Yes, my school had quite an active rumor-mill, but was it a coincidence that those who boasted the biggest breasts in our class also carried with them the biggest (and unfounded!) reputation as a slut. Yet part of me feels that these girls bring their reputations upon themselves. I bemoan my image as the “cute little girl,” while simultaneously cultivating it. These girls may enjoy their reputations and encouraged their formation themselves. However, perhaps no single one of these qualities can create a slut, but instead she is a conglomerate of style, amount of boys kissed, breast size, misfortune, memorable incidents, and at least a subconscious desire to channel the Red Light District.
