By Apurav Maggu:
There is one in every school and college. I am not being presumptuous; I am merely stating a fact that, men and women in every institution (school or college) brand one of the girls, as a slut.
Slut shaming, or branding a woman as slut in high school is one of the best examples of how we institutionalize patriarchy in our system. ‘Slut’, the term is loosely applied to any scenario. For eg. a girl asking for higher grades and the teacher acquiescing to her demands or the one who dates a lot or the one found in a compromising position at the wrong time. No, this does not mean sex per se. It could also mean a girl being friendly with a lot of boys or perhaps hugging, hanging out lone with a boy etc.
The UNSLUT Project
The Director’s own arduous journey through her teenage years via discussing her personal accounts led her to establish the UNSLUT project. This project wants to reach out to those people who endured such appalling behaviour from their peers and have been harassed and called names through no fault of their own.
Critical appraisal
A low budget documentary with an emotional detachment is what you feel throughout the documentary. However, the concept is fresh and her insights cannot be belittled after the second watch. After reading, how her ideas were repulsed by the production houses for they didn’t believe that it is a big deal, kudos to her effort.