Dirty Little Secrets: Breaking the Silence on Teenage Girls and Promiscuity

“Ms. Cohen’s Dirty Little Secrets is a perfect catalyst for mother/daughter discussions. It is a safe place to start a scary talk . . . a wake-up call. . . . Settle in, relax, and embrace its shocking content.”

Prepare to be catapulted out of your comfort zone when you pick up a copy of Dirty Little Secrets by Kerry Cohen. This hard-hitting nonfiction book is the logical sequel to Loose Girl, Ms. Cohen’s brutally honest memoir of her years of promiscuity.

In Secrets, she expands the discussion beyond her personal experience into an informative social commentary about why so many girls are at risk for “loose girl” status. She describes, in heartbreaking detail, the psychological damage loose girls suffer if they do not get help.

In defining “loose girl,” Ms. Cohen states simply: “They are just girls. They are your sister, your daughter, your friend, your niece . . . They are almost every girl you see.” She opens the door to helping these girls by opening our eyes as to how easy it is to become a “loose girl” in today’s teenage society.

Dirty Little Secrets is split into two parts: describing loose girls’ sexual experiences and showing how these girls might gain power over their sexual lives. She includes stories from loose girls who come from different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds as well as different family structures. Some loose girls come from intact homes and others from nightmares. Despite the wide spectrum of the girls’ backgrounds, all of these loose girls have one thing in common: They search for self-worth by soliciting male attention.

Ms. Cohen’s Dirty Little Secrets is a perfect catalyst for mother/daughter discussions. It is a safe place to start a scary talk about this issue so relevant to young women—and young men. Through the analysis of the plight of other girls, it may be possible to delve into what is happening in our own daughters’ lives.

At its heart, Dirty Little Secrets is a wake-up call. The only reason not to read it is if “you can’t handle the truth.” For the rest of you brave enough to face it: Settle in, relax, and embrace its shocking content.