With great style comes great responsibility, and in today’s generation nothing can be too short or show too much skin. Each generation of teenagers eventually ends up finding a new trend that is edgy or new, and sometimes it is not always the most covered piece of clothing. America went from mom jeans to low rise in a matter of years. Even so, just because you may see a cute crop top with fishnets and torn jeans in the window, it does not necessarily mean that outfit is appropriate for everyday wear, or that it will win over societal expectations. But customers buy it anyway, and then complain about being an everyday victim of the ever dreaded slut shaming.

I’d like to preface this by saying that bullying under any circumstance s rude and immature. No one should be bullied because of their decisions or who they choose to be. Everyone has the ability to do what they wish with their own bodies, so long as it is does responsibly and with precaution.

That being said, if someone- a man or a woman- wishes to flaunt around promiscuity, they should be well aware that judgements are to be made. But often times, I will see people- mostly women in this case- calling slut shame into the picture, blaming the consequences of her actions (such as name calling, and prejudices) on the other person. But how exactly is that fair? If they are responsible enough to wear revealing clothing, go out and party, and have sex with multiple guys without risks of disease or pregnancy, should they not be held responsible for the label that is given of a “slut”?

Usually people will call slut shaming if the woman get’s insulted for er behavior of what she is wearing. She will be told to cover up, or to cover her shoulders, or to cover her bra with a cardigan, or something else of the nature more than likely by the faculty at a high school (as most of these modern day anti-slut shamers are teenaged girls). They fail to see the reason behind the dress code in the first place, which is to dress appropriately.

I will not sit here and say I agree one hundred percent with dress codes, because in the hot seasons, as girls have more options than boys, I believe we should have some leniency in the system, but how hard is it to make sure your bra is covered to it’s entirety, or the shirt you are wearing is not too low? And before the argument that “men do not get dress coded” can be brought up, I want you to think back to the last place you went where a guy was not chastised for his pants being too low.

Girls will see a man comment on the clothes that they wear to parties or festivals, and the way they are acting, and claim that they do not dress for men, and yet get offended when a man does not like their attire. If you truly do not care what men think, then I applaud you, and by all means, wear whatever you would like- but to say you don’t care about men’s opinions, and proceed to argue is just immature. People will have their own opinions and a tweet should not start a war.

And behaviorally, a woman will expect to not be called a slut when she does in fact flaunt her sexuality about and post pictures and videos of it. As a female myself, I have noticed that the argument “well men don’t get called sluts for their sexuality” often surfaces. “They sleep with a bunch of women and talk about it all the time!” In my personal experience, in all of the friends I have, the number of times my girl friends mention their sex life in a week quadruples the number of times I have heard my guy friends mention their sex life in a year.

Yes, people have the ability to do whatever they wish with their bodies and should do so responsibly. However, if that is all someone draws attention to, does it not lead you to believe that that is all they are? It’s just like comparing a stoner to someone who smokes weed. What is the first difference you might think about? Someone who smokes does so occasionally or socially, whereas a stoner does so whenever they have a chance.

The way I see it, there is a name for everyone in the world for everything they do or are. There are names for subsets of religions, the label “queer” is often reclaimed by those of the gay community; so why should the names “slut” and “manwhore” not define someone as well? By taking away the power of the word like “queer” or “faggot”, it leaves the harasser with nothing. A girl can not be slut shamed if she is not ashamed of what she is doing, and those are the girls who reclaim the term. If they are ashamed of their actions, perhaps it is best not to participate in them in the beginning.