Slut: A Middle School Experience; A Creative SIP

Abstract

For my SIP I set out to creatively put to words the stories of girls at a pivotal moment in their life, middle school. Middle school, also know as junior high, is a time of change and identity for most humans, not just girls, as bodies begin to change and identities form about who they want to be, separate from the rules laid out by parents or teachers. Within this environment children experience a great plethora of emotions, ranging from mild mood swings to powerful rages, and everything in between. For my stories I wished to focus on girls and the different ways one can handle coming into a sexual identity in relation to each other and to oneself, as well as to boys. In order to achieve this I re-read books that helped me through my own transition stage (which admittedly I'm not fully out of), as well as reading popular fiction for teen girls, as well as watching films and television. I also read self help books, some aimed at teens, others their parents. Lastly, I tried to gleam the dynamics of friend groups that entered my place of work over the summer and during the beginning of the school year, as we were located directly across the street from a large public high school. The final product is three short stories, each revolving around a different girl within the same friend group.