Yes. Today I will be talking about a Netflix TV show called Grand Army. Also known as Slut: The Play.

Ok, hello everyone and welcome to a blog post that is a little bit different than my others. This blog post is part of a series I like to call (drum roll please), Jordyn’s Thoughts! I know, super creative. These weekly blog posts will give you, my readers, a chance to get a sneak peek into my brain and my thoughts and what I learn every week at school! Exciting! Each week will be different and I will talk about things I find interesting, extra research I did on a topic we talked about in class, and more. I think this will be a great opportunity for me as I am a fervent (NEW WORD ALERT) blogger and love writing posts for whoever will read them. Anyways, let’s get started.

THE WEEK IN A NUTSHELL

Women. Women, women, women. That was the topic of the week. Specifically, the treatment of women overtime. We did lots of interesting studies and watched lots of interesting (and slightly surprising) videos in class this week, mostly revolving around the word, slut. We watched a Saturday Night Live Clip:

A Golden Girls Clip:

And, a clip from the one, the only, Sex in the City. But, what does Slut really mean in these clips? Has Society and the TV industry progressed from the first example to the last? Would we hear slut (or similar language) being used in the same way on TV shows today? These were a couple questions that came to my mind after watching these videos, they were very thought provoking so I wanted to dig deeper, I wanted to find the answer to at least one of my questions, so I am choosing one…..

Would we hear slut (or similar language) being used in the same way on TV shows today?

So this TV show actually only come out on Netflix on Friday which was October 16th, so I decided to watch the first episode as part of my study. Enjoy the trailer!

Teacher: “Ms. Del Marco, do you have pants? Are these the only clothes you have?”

Joey: “Yeah.”

Teacher: “Why”

Joey: “ Well, because I was in gym when the lockd-”

Teacher: “ You’ll find any excuse, right, to put your body on display. Does anyone have anything Ms. Del Marco can use to cover herself?”

Joey: “….. and someone straps a bomb to themselves outside, but my bare legs are the issue? Got it.”

This was some dialogue from part of the show. Let me give you some context. Basically, the premise of the first episode (which you may not have gotten from the trailer above) is that there is a bombing near a high school, called Grand Army, and everyone is on lockdown in a stairwell. And this happens. Keep in mind that this teacher, the one that is shaming Joey FOR WEARING SHORTS IN PE, is also a female. Put simply, this teacher is slut shaming another female. But let’s look at the actual definition of the word slut, shall we.

A promiscuous person: someone who has many sexual partners, usually used of a woman. 

May I ask, what about wearing shorts for physical education, “is putting your body on display”? This is considered slut shaming, since Joey wearing shorts is supposedly provocative. This was the sole purpose of Slut:The Play, to combat slut shaming and rape culture, which is what Grand Army came from.

The play has been performed twice in the last three years to promote awareness surrounding rape culture and slut shaming which I think is absolutely amazing, and, it also brings me to my point. It brings me to the explanation of my mind and what all of this information means to me, also known as the conclusion.

CONCLUSION

All of the examples I showed you earlier in this Blog Post: “Jane, you ignorant slut!”, “you aren’t a slut, you are THE slut”, and “am I romantically challenged or a slut?” These are from the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s which is a pretty long time ago! I mean, I wasn’t even born yet so…. The word slut is used in a humorous manner or in a self-critical way I these videos which is why I think I found them so uncomfortable watch. I actually, physically covered my mouth and gasped in the SNL example. But, things have changed. The word slut and the stereotypes and categorization that go with the word are not acceptable. It represents a time in history when women were degraded, thought of as of as promiscuous when they dated lots of guys or divorced their husbands. But, different media and entertainment from the 21st century, is beginning to nullify (NEW WORD ALERT) these negative connotations and assumptions people have about women and what they choose to do. Although words like slut and whore, and similar subject matter are discussed in Grand Army and Slut: The Play, it is being used for awareness which I think is amazing and really important for teenagers like me and, honestly, everyone to learn about. 

Alright, well that was a lot longer than I expected, sorry! I went on a little bit of a rant, but I hope this post, if you come across it, inspires you to be conscious and aware of the negative effects of slut shaming and the damage it can do to society and females. Jordyn Eyton, signing off.