Tuesday, September 18, 2012

What Does It Mean to Be a Whore?


Before I ever had sex, I was called a slut and a whore by the kids at school. My own father told me in a fit of rage that the whole school thought I was a slut. I lost my virginity in a bathroom of a park from a pimple faced popular boy who pressured me into it without asking. I was terrified and I had no idea what was going on, but the words of those who called me a whore stuck in my mind, and I confirmed for them... that indeed I must be a slut. Now that I am older and have experience as a woman, as a mother, as a survivor of sex trafficking and exploitation, as a scholar, as a kick ass student & lover of life, I have begun to wonder what does it really mean to be a whore...

Am I a whore because of the way I look
Is it my beauty that your envious of while you stand empty watching me be loved by many
Am I whore because I enjoy cooking a masterful meal wearing only underwear
Is it because I let my daughter be naked in the house all the time as she delights in her own mere presence
Am I a whore for automatically shaking my ass every time my body feels the entrancing, pulsation of music no matter where I am at
Is there a certain number of men I have to sleep with before I cross the invisible WHORE threshold
Or is it because I like to sleep with women sometimes too & actually have been since I was 13
Am I a whore because I know how to connect with people on a level you only dream of
Is it because I have seen the darkest of men, in secretive places & I know their pain
Am I a whore because I know how to survive when there is no one else to help me
Is it because you fear my determination and my strength
Is it because I fall in love fast & love with all my heart 
Am I a whore because I decided to give life to my unborn child instead of believing you I couldn't do it
Is it because I am comfortable in my own body and embrace my woman-ness every chance I get
Am I a whore because I talk freely about sex and I am unashamed of my "taboo" past
Is it because I made hundreds of thousands of dollars through my old work, that you will never touch
Am I a whore because my job took me to the depths of this earth and catapulted me to another level of existence in order to THRIVE
Or is it because I want to spend my life helping child victims and giving voice to all the other women you like to call a whore
Am I a whore because my innocence was ripped away from me while secretly drugged in my adolescence 
Is it because you know you want even just a tiny piece of the gifts I have to offer the world
Am I a whore because you could never please me and you will never have me
...
Oh, I know... I am a whore because I finally decided to take my power back & you don't like that very much.



Izabella's father called me garbage  and a whore again the other week. This is 4 years of mental abuse & I won't have it anymore. I am not the scared, broken little girl who he met in a strip club 4 years ago. I know who I am now and I am learning to love every single piece of it. Izabella overheard a phone conversation & knows he called me garbage. This hurts her & she has brought it up when she got sad about something totally unrelated. I validated her feelings & told her people make mistakes. We have to learn & forgive & love. I told her its ok to not like if boys say garbage... you tell them "NO, that is not ok with me. You don't talk to me that way." And she understood. We practiced saying NO by being silly with attitude. My motivation is her. What kind of woman do I want her to try to be? How do I want her to view men? Thank God for her Tio Paully who shows her what love means & how men should treat her mommy. XOXO thank you for reading.

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3 comments:

  1. This hits close to home Robin! When I was a kid (under 12 even) kids were calling me slutty because I liked red lipstick and was allow to wear whatever I liked. Later I think it had something to do with being the only non-christian in a very christian community.

    Neither of us are slutty or whores, we are strong women empowered by our sexuality and not afraid of it. And that scares the shit out of people.

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  2. So proud of u and how ur past has allowed u to become who u r today. U will continue to do great things with ur live. I am proud that u r not ashamed of who u used to be or what u used to do to survive. I truly feel u went through the things u did; so u can use ur story to help others. God took a less than glorious situation and turned it around for good. U r an amazing woman and wonderful mother. Am glad u see this for urself and r standing up for urself. So many woman have no clue how to be themselves or be different or even stand up to someone else. So many have no clue or the courage to express their woman hood or their sexuality. It is part of nature and it is something to be proud of. Woman are beautiful and need to take a lesson from ur play book. So all I can say is u sing it sister.

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  3. So powerful, Robin. Hope it makes folks think before they call names. And maybe one day we women can enjoy sex without being called whores...

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