Is Jack a Slut?

If you think only women can be sluts, read this.  Read as PDF by clicking here or read on this blog by clicking "Read more" below.

Is Jack a Slut?

W. J. Holly    

           Frankly, I was shocked.  I couldn’t believe my ears.  The class was discussing abortion, and one woman said, “If people have sex, knowing that they might get pregnant, then I think they ought to be willing to pay the penalty. “

            “Even when the girl is only thirteen or fourteen years old?” I asked.  “Should having a baby – becoming a mother – be a penalty?”

            At this point, one young man blurted out the following assessment:  “Well, if they don’t protect their virginity – I mean – if they just whup it out anyplace, anytime, for anyone who comes along, then I think they ought to pay the consequences.  If they fool around and get pregnant, they knew what they were doing, and they should be made to take responsibility and have the kid.”

            I was so stunned by the immediate and obvious implications of what he was saying that I said something that I instantly regretted:  “Well, of course, “   I said.  “I mean, if the girl is just a slut, then of course she should become a mother.  After all, the world needs more sluts.”

            I have always hated that ugly, dehumanizing word.  I have known (though not very well, I confess) women and girls who were called sluts, but I have never known one that I thought deserved that term of contempt.  I had thought that, in these times of liberation and equality, such attitudes had lapsed.  But, wasn’t he suggesting that girls who don’t “protect their virginity” are sluts, and that those guilty of sluttery should pay the penalty of having a baby?  “Do not pass Go,” “Do not collect two hundred dollars,” and “Have a baby”?

            Well, I just didn’t know what to think about all this, so I called my sister who knows everything.  And here’s what she said:

            “Bill,” she said, “I know exactly what he meant, and he is absolutely right.  Absolutely.  Take for instance a friend that I had in junior high.  I tried to warn him about Margaret, but he wouldn’t listen.  I told him, ‘Jack, Margaret doesn’t love you.  She’s been to bed with other guys, and she’s just trying to score on you.  She’s just after your body, and once she’s had her way with you, she’ll drop you like an old shoe.  She’s the kind to kiss and tell.  Trust me, Jack.  I know.  You ought to hear the way she talks about you in the locker room.

            “Well, Jack took my advice this time, and broke up with Margaret.  But, pretty soon, he was going steady with another girl, name of Esther.  Now, Esther was a nice girl, and I think she and Jack did love each other, though it is hard to tell when you’re only fourteen.  But, even so, one thing led to another, and they finally … well … went all the way. “

            “When Jack told me about this, I about hit the ceiling.  ‘How could you do this, Jack?’ I screamed at him.  Poor Jack, he looked so miserable and guilty.  ‘I tried to hold her off,’ he said.  ‘I tried to protect my virginity, but she kept saying that it was alright because she really loved me and was going to marry me someday.  So, what was wrong with doing something now if we were going to do it later anyhow?  Sometimes she’d get so frustrated that she’d cry, and she said she wanted me so bad that it actually hurt.  And, she kept asking, didn’t I love her?  So, I finally broke down and let her.’ “

            “Well, I had to break the bad news to Jack.  ‘Jack,’ I said, you realize what you’ve gone and done, don’t you?  You’ve gone and lost your virginity.  Don’t you have any self-respect?’  Jack looked so pathetic now that he was practically whining.  ‘I tried to save myself for marriage,’ he said.  ‘But she said she loved me, so isn’t it O.K.?  She’s going to marry me, right?’ “

            “  ‘Jack,’ I said.  ‘Try to think clearly about this.  Don’t you think that Esther would want to marry a virgin?  How can she respect you any more, after what you have let her do?’ “

            “ ‘You mean I’m …   ?’ “

            “ ‘That’s right, Jack,” I said.  ‘You’re ruined.  You’re used goods now.  You can forget marriage.’  Well, poor Jack just sat down and put his head between his knees, and rocked back and forth, moaning.”

            “ ‘Ruined,” he said.  ‘I didn’t want this to happen. I tried to be good.  Can I be faulted for loving her too much?’ “

            “ ‘Faulted for loving her too much?’ I yelled.  ‘Of course you can be faulted for loving her too much.  Should you love a person who doesn’t love you?  Should you love a person who wants to ruin you, to take your most precious possession – your virginity – without paying the price?  What about loving yourself?  Where is your self-respect?  Besides,’  I said – I couldn’t help getting in one last shot – ‘Besides, what did you think you would be able to wear at your wedding?’ “

            “ ‘You mean … ?’ “

            “ ‘That’s right, Jack,’ I said.  ‘Did you think that you would be able to wear white at your wedding?  It would be a bare-faced lie to wear white after what you’ve done.  And, do you think that Esther would want to walk down the aisle with a guy wearing a pink tux?’ “

            “ ‘Isn’t there any way I can take it back?’ Jack asked.

            “ ‘No, Jack,’ I said.  ‘Once your virginity is gone, it’s gone forever.’ “

            “Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so hard on Jack.  He felt so worthless that pretty soon he was putting out for any girl that came along.  All you had to do was tell Jack you loved him, and he’d do it with you.  I tried to talk to him about it, but it didn’t do any good.  I told him that none of the girls in school respected him, that he was getting a reputation for being easy.  ‘Frankly, Jack,’ I said, ‘the girls all think that you’re a sluh … sluh … ‘ “

            “ ‘A slut?’ “

            “ ‘Yes, Jack.  They all say you’re a slut.’ “

            “ ‘A hoor!’ Jack cried.  ‘That’s what I’ve been reduced to – a hoor!’ “

            “ ‘A whore, Jack,’ I corrected him.  ‘If you’re going to be one, learn to pronounce it correctly.’ “

            “Of course the inevitable happened.  Jack got caught.  One of the girls he had been seeing, name of Peggy Sue, came to him and said, ‘Jack, you’re going to be a father.’ “

            “Jack was beside himself.  ‘Oh, what will we tell our parents?  Maybe we should get an abortion.’ “

            “ ‘Abortion, nothing,’ said Peggy Sue.  ‘If you can’t keep pure, and you get caught, you’re just going to have to accept the responsibility for being a father.’ “

            “ ‘I guess you’re right,’ said Jack.  ‘It’s the only right thing to do.  We’ll just have to get married and make the best of it.’ “

            “ ‘Married?  Give me a break,’ said Peggy Sue.  ‘This is your problem, not mine.  Sure, we both know that I am the mother of your kid.  But, the way you have been sleeping around, it could just as well have been any number of other girls.  And, if you try to give me any problems, Jack, I can get at least a dozen of my friends to testify in court that they have slept with you, too, and that you’re just a hoor.’ “

            “ ‘Whore, Peggy Sue,’ he said.  ‘It’s pronounced whore.’ “

            “ ‘Hoor, whore, whatever,’ said Peggy Sue.  ‘Just don’t think you can get any child support payments from me.’ “

            “ ‘I don’t get it,’ said Jack.  ‘You don’t want an abortion, and you don’t want to get married.  What do you want me to do?’ “

            “ ‘Frankly, I couldn’t care less what you do,’ said Peggy Sue.  ‘I’m sorry that you’ll have to drop out of school to take care of your kid, but that’s your problem, not mine.  When you go sleeping around without taking precautions, you just have to take responsibility for what happens.’ “

            “ ‘I don’t understand why you don’t think that its’ at least partly your responsibility too,’ said Jack.  ‘After all, you slept with me as many times as I slept with you.  It takes two to tango.’ “

            “ ‘Don’t try to make me feel guilty,’ says Peggy Sue.  ‘Everybody knows you’re just a slut, Jack.  If I hadn’t slept with you, somebody else would have. So, what’s the difference?’ “

            “ ‘But this is insane!’ cried Jack.  ‘It makes no sense for a person as immature and irresponsible as me to be taking on the responsibility of having a baby and being a parent.  I should have an abortion.  … Besides,’ said Jack, ‘I am morally unfit to be a father.  I’m not even a virgin!  I’m ruined goods.  Now, I ask you, is a slut fit to be a father to an innocent little child?  What chance would a kid have, with a slut for a father?’ “

            “ ‘You should of thought of that aforehand,’ said Peggy Sue.’ “

            When I told the class the following day what my sister had said, none of them would talk to me for two weeks.  Perhaps I should have warned them about my sister.  Sometimes it’s hard to know just how to take her.  You never know what she really thinks.  But she does make you think.