Slut-Shaming, Whorephobia, and the Unfinished Sexual Revolution
Eliminating rape culture and the pleasure gap by ending good-girl privilege and bad-girl stigma.
Description
The sexual revolution is unfinished. A sexual double standard between men and women still exists, and society continues to punish bad girls and reward good ones. Until we eliminate good-girl privilege and bad-girl stigma, women will not be fully free to embrace their sexuality.
In Slut-Shaming, Whorephobia, and the Unfinished Sexual Revolution Meredith Ralston looks at the common denominators between the #MeToo movement, the myths of rape culture, and the pleasure gap between men and women to reveal the ways that sexually liberated women threaten the patriarchy. Weaving in history, pop culture, philosophy, interviews with sex workers, and personal anecdotes, Ralston shows how women cannot achieve sexual equality until the sexual double standard and good girl/bad girl binary are eliminated and women viewed by society as "whores" are destigmatized. Illustrating how women's sexuality is policed by both men and women, she argues that women must be allowed the same personal autonomy as men: the freedom to make sexual decisions for themselves, to obtain orgasm equality, and to insist on their own sexual pleasure.
Dispelling the myth that all sex workers are victims and all clients are violent, Slut-Shaming, Whorephobia, and the Unfinished Sexual Revolution calls out Western society's hypocrisy about sex and shows how stigma and the marginalization of sex workers harms all women.
Reviews
“Ralston takes on the ambitious task of connecting the ongoing existence of rape culture to Western society’s perceptions of sex work in an effort to dismantle the sexual double standards that persist in both. [She] crafts a concise narrative to reassess her interpretation of sex workers as victims of circumstance and provides her interviewees with power over their decisions.” Choice
"By bringing together history, pop culture, and interviews with sex workers, Ralston aims to dispel a widely held belief that all sex workers are victims who don't enjoy their work and that all clients are violent; in parallel to this, [Ralston] illustrates Western society's hypocritical views about sex and aims to show how the stigma against sex workers harms not only those in sex-trade work, but all women." Allison Lawlor, The Chronicle Herald
"Meredith Ralston investigates prejudice against sex workers with compassion, clarity, and a call to action. Until the stigma ends, all women are implicated. If you care about women's equality in the bedroom, boardroom, and beyond, read this book." Leora Tanenbaum, author of I Am Not a Slut: Slut-Shaming in the Age of the Internet
"By placing herself in her work, drawing from her formative childhood memories, her initial reactions to and subsequent reflections on relevant events, and notably her experiences as a teacher, researcher, and filmmaker, Meredith Ralston participates in the tradition of great feminist conversations. Slut-Shaming, Whorephobia, and the Unfinished Sexual Revolution is intersectional in its approach and sophisticated in its theoretical understanding, while also being accessible and engaging." Edna Keeble, Saint Mary's University and author of Politics and Sex: Exploring the Connections between Gender, Sexuality, and the State
"In this timely analysis of power and pleasure, Meredith Ralston demonstrates how the double standard reverberates across culture, from how we police our intimate lives to the way #MeToo exposes the fault lines of sexual entitlement. Deeply researched and passionately argued, Ralston's book challenges us to take a close look at the consequences of our sexual hypocrisy and consider what it takes to destigmatize sex and dismantle privilege. The revolution she describes is a necessary one." Katherine Rowland, author of The Pleasure Gap: American Women and the Unfinished Sexual Revolution