Educated: A Memoir

The word “whore” comes up frequently throughout Westover’s memoir. At a young age, she remembers her father referring to the women at their local church as whores for wearing what he considered to be “immodest” clothing. When Westover became a teenager and started going through puberty, her older brother, Shawn, regularly called her a “slut” and a “whore.” He would even physically abuse her until she admitted aloud that she was a whore. His accusations also involved him telling Faye and Gene that Westover was a “whore” and making up stories about her behavior in town. He would claim that she acted promiscuously, when she only ever did harmless things, like applying lip gloss or having a casual conversation with a boy at the local theater. When she was 15, Shawn’s accusations resulted in Gene insisting that Faye have Westover examined to ensure that she was still a virgin. At the time, Westover had never even kissed a boy.

Shawn’s cruelty toward Westover seemed to be his way of making sure that she did not act like a “whore.” Anytime she did something that he associated with “whorish” behavior—applying lip gloss, for example—he would find a way to punish her afterward. One night on the way home from the local theater in town, his punishment involved rolling down all the truck windows in extremely cold and windy weather and laughing as he watched Westover shiver and cower against her seat.

But to act whorishly is not just about sexual behavior to Gene. When Westover announces that she wants to go to college, Gene prays about her decision, and eventually tells her that the Lord has called him to testify: “He is displeased. You have cast aside his blessings to whore after man’s knowledge. His wrath is stirred against you” (141).

The image of the whore symbolizes what Gene considers to be godless behavior. Any choice, any decision, any state of being that rejects “his blessings” is whorish. To view people’s behaviors as whorish is to see the world as Shawn and Gene see it, and labeling people’s choices as whorish is to define them to themselves. The problem is that this image is extremely powerful within a fundamentalist culture; to be a “whore” is to be constantly on the defensive. In Gene’s world, the righteous always have free reign to do whatever it takes to cure a person of his or her whorish behavior. For those labeled as “whorish,” the feeling of being outcasted can easily persuade them that they deserve the abuse that is heaped upon them at the hands of those who see themselves as righteous. This cycle recurs throughout Westover’s memoir.