I dislike the stigma behind sex in our culture. We have been taught from an incredibly young age about sex, sexuality, and gender roles through all forms of socialization. We learned this information from our parents, our peers, and the media, just to name a few sources. From these outlets, it was absorbed by our young minds that women can be and are supposed to be sexualized in nearly any manner possible.

Growing up, these messages were taught to us everywhere we went; like when my middle school banned girls from wearing yoga pants and spaghetti straps because they were too distracting to the male student body, when seeing a woman being asked to leave a restaurant because she was breastfeeding her child, when observing all the advertisements with an attractive woman counterpart, and when watching music videos and listening to music that was mainly centered on the female ass. With all of these blatant and other subliminal messages sexualizing the female body, it is no wonder we are encountering issues with the younger generations and the concept of slut shaming.

Just the other day, in a group of friends, the topic of conversation turned to sex, and shortly thereafter, to one of the members in my groups’ “number” (the number of sexual partners he has had). I sat quietly as a conversation ensued, bringing up his girlfriend and her “number." He then said something that inspired me to write this article. He said, in reference to his girlfriend, “as long as her number is lower than mine, I’m okay with it.” Society has proven through statements such as this and others that women are not supposed to have a healthy sexual appetite, and that their male counterparts are supposed to be more sexually experienced than them.

The hypocrisy is unbelievable to me. We, as females, are supposed to remain pure, innocent, and virginal, and yet we are ceaselessly advertised to the world around us as sexual objects. I support women and their sexual choices, or lack thereof. Every woman is entitled to have control of her own body and who she does or does not sleep with. That’s why I hate the word ‘slut’. What do you qualify as a slut? A woman who enjoys sex? A woman who has had a certain number of partners?

I am not ashamed to admit that I am a woman with a healthy sexual appetite. Hell, some people may call me a slut. You know what, go for it – that is not an insult that affects me. I just wish someday society will quit extensively and unfavorably sexualizing women and accept us fully and abundantly for the reproductive organs and sexual appetites that we were born with.

So to my fellow sensual and proudly unrestrained comrades out there, you do you. Don’t let others who call you names and try to insult you bring you down. We are stronger than those words.