Themes and message

Female adolescence

One of the important themes explored by Silcox in her story “Slut Trouble” is the idea of female rivalry. The girls are in an ongoing competition over the length of their hair (ll. 13-14). This indicates that they are at an age where they compare themselves with their peers and want to stand out: “Megan is winning, which is how she likes it.” (l. 16). Also, the girls are fascinated with Julie-Anne’s image and the life they imagine her to have – they take a poster with her picture (l. 25), steal a newspaper that features images of her (ll. 40-41), buy clothing similar to hers (ll. 63-64), and then even try to enact her experience of being kidnapped because such an experience seems almost like a strange compliment (ll. 107-108). This suggests that, like many young women, Laura and Megan feel pressured to look a certain way to feel admired and accepted.

Both girls, but especially Megan, want to feel and be seen as more mature than they are – an attitude which is also typically encountered in teenagers. However, they are childlike and naive in many ways, and this prevents them from understanding that Julie-Anne and Kimberly were the victims of someone who sought to hurt them. Laura and Megan quickly label Kimberly Watson as a slut after Mr Henderson suggests that her promiscuous ways got her kidnapped (ll. 87-88), and enact this during their game(l. 115). Like others their age, Laura and Megan adopt attitudes and behaviours from those around them. In this case, this leads them to have a prejudiced perception of women which also affects the way in which they see themselves.  

The girls are also curious about relationships and sexuality but lack any experience in this area. Megan, especially, wants to appear more experienced, and boasts about being willing to have sex with Julie-Anne’s boyfriend (ll. 49-50). She also enjoys swearing (l. 37) and displays an uncaring, cold attitude towards Laura, probably because she associates these attitudes with adulthood and with being independent: “ ‘I don’t give a shit, Laura. (…) Did you really think I was serious? Are you really that fucking dumb?’ ” (ll. 70-72)

For Megan, violence and sexuality blend together in the g...

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