“Ever since high school, I’ve been called a slut,” confesses model/author/icon Amber Rose in an op-ed piece for Time magazine.
After my ex-husband Wiz Khalifa and I got a divorce, I’d go out for a date at a restaurant like any normal single human and people would say, “Man, she’s such a ho. She’s out at restaurants with guys.” Then they would see my ex-husband with a bunch of women. They would say, “He’s the man! That’s so cool.” So when I went on a date, I’m a whore, and when he’s piling girls in a car, he’s the man? There’s something wrong here.
But you know what? Ultimately, Amber doesn’t give a flying fig WHAT you say about her. After letting other peoples’ judgements and slut-shaming tear her apart for so long, she now refuses let the insults have any effect on her.
I realized that I can’t make everyone believe. And I can’t talk to everyone and tell them who I really am. They’re still going to have their own opinions. If you know me, you love me. If you don’t know me, you might love me, but you might not—and that’s cool. And you know what? Now I sleep like a baby at night.
She goes on to say:
What I’ve realized is that, when you care too much, you’re not living at your full potential. When you really stop caring about what people say, that’s when you really start living. It’s such an amazing feeling. It’s about loving who you are, owning who you are and knowing that it’s O.K. to live your life how you want to live it. We’re all human, which means we’re not all perfect. It’s so cool to think that I might help women think about who they want to be and then encourage them to be that person with no remorse. I want to help women just be happy in their own skin.
So please: Before you judge someone—especially another woman—put yourself in her shoes and also look at your past. That’s what a lot of women fail to do. They’re so quick to call another girl names, but it’s like: You know what? There may have been a time where you looked back and said, “I probably shouldn’t have done that.” Does that make you a ho? No, it makes you a human.
Read the whole piece here.
