Less an "interesting look" and more a "cursory glance" at sexual harassment in schools. It includes some stories from women who were considered the school sluts and have gone on to become strong, independent women, who credit their high-school reputations with their self-assuredness now. Unfortunately, I doubt that's the case for most of the girls saddled with those reputations. Slut! doesn't really cover the main reasons this sort of thing happens, or even why, but it does break the girls into three categories: the promiscuous/sexual girl, the raped girl, and the outsider, and goes into some depth on each of those. An okay read, but if you're interested in the topic, try Fast Girls: Teenage Tribes and the Myth of the Slut [http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/105649.Fast_Girls_Teenage_Tribes_And_The_Myth_Of_The_Slut] instead.

Aside: is there a single sociology book where the jacket copy doesn't describe the content as "A groundbreaking look at ______"? ( )

A well-researched, well-written book about sexual harrassment of young women, written from a feminist perspective. The author herself once had this epithet hurled at her, overcame it, and has gone on to write about how it effects women, as adolescents and as adults. She has some positive things to say about how women overcome this label and go on to live empowered lives. ( )

This book reminded me a lot of Fast Girls…but Slut! Was much less like an extended essay (Fast Girls had no bibliography and no notes). I would be more than happy to add this to my personal library…while I sent Fast Girls off to my paperback swap bookshelf. As anyone who has been around here a while knows, this continues to be a subject that interest me in oh so many ways. I’ve now got several other books to look for thanks to the notes from this one…lol! I’d recommend it, but would only rate it a B as it leaves me with a lot of questions like HOW do you start talking to your children about female sexuality and WHEN…I mean I personally think that sexual experimentation is normal for teenagers…but it’s not widely accepted, that double standard really is still out there, bigger than sit. So, how do you go about teaching your sons and daughters that their sexual feelings are normal without also making them feel like they can in now way explore those feelings without being perceived as “bad” by a majority of the adults and peers in their lives. ( )

http://www.peskyapostrophe.com/index.php/weblog/shes_such_a_slut/ ( )