ESSAY by CASSIE BLACK The Safe Slut
PHOTOGRAPH by N0TF0R$A1E
As kids, we are expected to have role models who society deemed upstanding and respectable, and yet, I looked up to Kesha, Snooki, and Elvira. They were my holy trinity, and still very much are. I never understood why people who were so unapologetically themselves were shamed by society and mainstream media. Watching them be slutty and free empowered me—I was mesmerized by them. It made me realize I too could be free and liberated and not care about what anyone else thought. A woman who owns her sexuality is seen as a threat to society. These women knew society would react poorly to them being openly sexual but they did it anyways, and in my eyes, it was hands-down the most punk rock thing you could do.
