Married at First Sight Season 12 star Clara Berghaus has been one of the more outspoken members of the MAFS franchise.
Clara continues to use her platform to bring awareness to important subjects, such as advocating for women.
Recently, Clara opened up a discussion about slut-shaming and candidly discussed her personal experience with being shamed and assaulted as she called for slut-shaming to end.
Clara Berghaus addresses the harassment she and other women face for their bodies
Clara Bergahus shared a TikTok video on her Instagram addressing body shaming.
Clara mouthed audio, saying, “Am I showing off my boobs? Or do I just have boobs and exist?”
Further elaborating, Clara captioned the video, “Let’s talk about ✨slut shaming✨The first time I was ever called a slut I was 13. I weighed maybe 85 lbs and couldnt fill out a training bra but I was wearing a v neck and that was all it took. I was raised in purity culture which meant that if a girl had even a hint of a body, wore shorts that went above the knee, or a tank top that she was ‘looking for attention.’”
Clara vulnerably revealed the harassment and even assault she experienced in high school and as a young adult, writing, “And the boys we were raised with were told that any girl wearing cute clothes was dressed just for them. Even as a virgin in hs I was called a ‘make out slut’ just for kissing boys. I went to a Christian school to start college and was called a ‘whore’ for wearing a low cut top. And you want to know what’s crazy? At 20 I was raped while wearing a ‘conservative’ dress.”
Addressing the backward notion that women’s clothing and body means they’re ‘asking for it’, Clara wrote, “For some reason people STILL have this crazy notion that when women wear more revealing clothing that they’re ‘asking for it.’ The the attention, the assaults, all of it.”
“And guess what: 1. women are NEVER asking for it. Period. I don’t care what she was wearing, if she laughed at your jokes, let you buy her dinner, even went back to your place. Until a woman specifically tells you ‘I want this’ *while being cognizant enough to make that statement*, it’s a no.”
Clara added, “And 2. Women are being harassed and assaulted every single day regardless of what they’re wearing! Some of y’all don’t seem to realize that we get the same attention in a low cut dress at the bar as we do wearing sweats at the gas station.”
Clara Berghaus points out the impossible expectations placed on women
Clara called out several contradictory expectations that women are expected to adhere to, writing, “Women are allowed to wear what they want, when they want, without it having anything to do with you. We have GOT to stop talking about women’s bodies as if WE are the problem. We’re expected to be virgins until marriage but f**k like porn stars. ‘Show off what we’ve got’ but ‘leave a little to the imagination.’ Devote our bodies to having kids but make sure they snap back afterwards. Its impossible! And thats not even talking about women who actually enjoy sex for their own please because lord knows that makes us “dirty.”
Concluding her caption with a call to action, Clara wrote, “Stop teaching young girls that their bodies are something to be ashamed of. Stop idealizing womens bodies as vessels for male pleasure. And stop slut shaming women for wearing what they are comfortable and confident in.”
Clara’s passion and valid statements were conveyed effectively in her recent post.
Married at First Sight airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Lifetime.