Content note: slut-shaming, male misogynist anger.
Yesterday I got into a quasi-argument on Reddit with some 21-year-old dude who’s grossed out that his 21-year-old girlfriend has had sex before.
That’s a bit of an oversimplification, yes, but that was basically the gist of it. She’s had sex with a handful of other dudes – specifically, unprotected sex – and he’s grossed out by it because it doesn’t “fit with his values” and it shows she’s “reckless and irresponsible.” I encouraged him to do some research on unlearning slut-shaming, and also to think about other “reckless and irresponsible” things she could have done – like, say, driving without a seatbelt on, or starting a small fire by accident – and ponder whether those things would have upset him just as much. (Spoiler alert: they would not.)