Legend has it that "sluts" are lurking all around. You might encounter one on a shadowy street corner or posing in a magazine. But those tricksters also blend in easily at school, at church functions, and even in your own home. Constant vigilance is required. Without it, you might accidentally become one yourself. Except... there's no such thing as a "slut." It's just a myth. So is the "slut's" invented opposite, the "good girl." What's the deal with these lingering stereotypes and around female sexuality? Why do they still bear so much control over our cultural and personal expectations? These chapters are collected/edited from my Teen Vogue column. I want to share them with you here, where we can discuss them together, because the Wattpad community was so crucial to establishing The UnSlut Project as an international movement. I hope your comments on these essays will grow into conversations, and that we can keep inspiring and learning from each other!

I was the 6th-grade "slut." And I kept a diary. So I decided to create The UnSlut Project in the hopes that my own diary entries could provide some perspective to girls who currently feel trapped and ashamed. I am publishing these entries one at a time, without changing a single word except for the names of the people involved. My limited commentary, which is confined to brackets in each entry, is meant to provide the relief of my current perspective, fifteen years later. The UnSlut Project: Working to undo the dangerous slut shaming in our schools, communities, media, and culture by sharing knowledge and experiences.

[mini-sequel to UNSEEN] One girl came and changed James’ life, broke the walls and everything he had built around to protect himself from both people and ghosts. But now she’s gone and he has to keep on living. Step by step, from the most painful one until it becomes natural, he has to figure out his life now she’s absent. Live fully, she told him. And that’s how James will live, until they meet again. Until the absence is filled with her laughter and her love again. ⋙·⋘ Illustration by Agnes Cecile Edit by Bel Watson

If you're judging this book by its cover and title, you're already proving the point this story wants to make. Try to move past this satirical obstacle in front of you. This is a story about bullying, and like the hundreds of other books on the topic, it will show you the harsh reality of being discriminated, belittled, ridiculed for something you cannot control- how you look, who you love, or what you believe in. But unlike these books, this story's sole purpose is not to tear your heart out of your chest as you mourn over your loss of faith in humanity. Instead, this book will make you laugh and love alongside these characters. Just like in life, there will be moments of dread and surrender, but there will also be moments of happiness, laughter, and love. - Naomi Lorraine, better known as Nerdy Naomi with her thick-rimmed glasses and straight-A report card, is the most unpopular girl in her school. Even with the help of her sarcastic comebacks, that doesn't stop her from getting bullied by everyone in Dartwell High. Every day her childhood bully, Raymond Meyers, knocks her off her feet, literally. However, she can't do anything but survive the laughs, insults, and bruises high school gives her. There are three senior transfer students, dubbed the Three Musketeers: Bennett Frazier, Jordan Wallace, and Declan Lynch. All in one day, Naomi catches their attention one by one. With her snarky attitude, but innocent look, they can't help but want her. But not the way you're thinking. Oh no, not like that. Instead, it's probably the whole opposite. It's quite simple really. She'll be their good girl. And they'll be her bad boys. ~ [This story is a first draft written by a 13 to 15-year-old girl so it has its fair share of grammar mistakes and plot holes.] Wattys 2015 Talk of the Town Award Second Place Story of 2015 Best Humor and Overall Points of The Fiction Awards 2016 Third in the Writers Awards 2016 Highest Ranks: #1 Humor, #1 Teen Fiction

[COMPLETE ✓] Rumour has it that a new guy is joining our class this year. All the girls are going crazy, imagining all the case scenarios from cliché YA books: mysterious, rebel, bad boy, werewolf, fallen angel, even vampire! The worst part, I don't even think they have read the books; they only watched the films. However, it doesn't make much difference to me, it's not like he is going to see me. No one sees me. Oh but don't worry, I got used to this and I learnt to enjoy it. Believe me, being unseen has its perks. I'll show you. ⋙⋘ Illustrator: Sarah Bochaton