Category Archives: Blog

We all know that on the internet (as in life), there’s a special disdain reserved for women who write about sex – especially women who write about sex bravely and without shame. Which is why I shouldn’t be shocked by the nastiness that followed Jaclyn Friedman’s characteristically wonderful post, My Sluthood, Myself. But I guess I’m naively optimistic about people’s better natures, because I was straight up floored by this piece of shit post masquerading as well-intentioned criticism.

Amanda does an excellent job tearing apart blogger Susan Walsh (as she did with Jaclyn and Heather Corrina of Scarleteen on Twitter yesterday) on why Walsh’s post is disingenuous and misogynist.  (I mean, anyone who bemoans that non-slutty women can’t “compete with determined sluts in the marketplace” has a ways to go in terms of not hating women.)  So I strongly suggest you read Amanda and the Twitter war that preceded her post, because they’re awfully telling.

But outside of the content of Walsh’s argument, there’s something else going on here that I think deserves some attention.  Walsh is peddling in a pretty common (and tired) theme among bloggers who don’t really have shit to say – attacking someone who does.  This kind of post is especially successful when you make it as salacious as possible, so Jaclyn was a perfect target.  What truly bugs me is the way that Walsh – in her post and subsequently in comments, where she’s getting her ass handed to her – keeps insisting that she wrote this post to help young women.  You know, cause she cares.  She condescends that she has nothing against Jaclyn but simply feels bad for someone who is so clearly a tortured soul.  (Walsh conveniently ignores the positivity and joyfulness of Jaclyn’s post and work.)

But let’s take a look at what she’s really done from a bloggy perspective.  She’s featured a picture of Jaclyn – one that as far as I can tell isn’t publicly available.  She’s constructed a headline for her post that not only has the word “slut” in it, but that also features Jaclyn’s full name.  This is search engine gold for anyone searching for Jaclyn’s work (a lot more people, I’m assuming, than search for Walsh’s).  She’s created the post as slut-shaming traffic bait, no more.  Walsh doesn’t actually have anything of substance to say, as evidenced by the fact that she can’t seem to honestly answer one question posed to her in her comments section or on Twitter.  (Like when Amanda asked how many men one has to sleep with to be considered a slut, and Walsh replied she “rejects the concept” of a number.  Ahem, #15.)

This kind of attempt to character assassinate online is something that will always happen to feminists and women who speak their mind.  Vultures like Walsh know that there’s no better way to get traffic and to make a name for themselves – especially when they have no discernible expertise, writing ability, or following.  So where does that leave us?  We could ignore the Walshes of the world; my writing this post just drives more traffic to her, after all.  But there’s always a new crop of traffic-savvy anti-feminists cropping up, and I believe we should make sure we know who they are so we can promptly smack down their nonsense and remind ourselves why the work people like Jaclyn do is so meaningful. I also think it’s incredibly important that we not forget the personal and professional downfalls of being an unabashed feminist online. When we’re called whores, attacked and mocked online – those posts follow us forever.  We take the hit so others don’t have to.  So please show Jaclyn some love today; people who write bravely need all the gratitude they can get.