The word slut doesn’t define me because I’m not defined by my sexuality or body, I’m defined by my value as a person.

I was a full-bodied woman at 11. When I was 12, a girl told me, “People think you’re weird. People think you’re a prostitute.” A boy chimed in, “She is.” It wasn’t the first or last time I’d be called a slut. The experience made me glad I can’t have kids, but the isolation pushed me to get my first internship when I was in 8th grade. People love everything I used to get teased for. The word slut doesn’t define me because I’m not defined by my sexuality or body, I’m defined by my value as a person.