“You’re not a slut. There’s no such thing.”

“You’re not a slut. There’s no such thing.” is Elfrieda Von Riesen’s direct rejection of a degrading sexual label, spoken to Yolandi Von Riesen in the midst of a conversation about whether Elfrieda can imagine reasons to stay alive. The exchange shifts from the question of her own survival to a brief, emphatic act of reassurance toward her sister: Elfrieda insists that the label itself has no truth or legitimacy.

The Conversation

Yolandi asks whether Elfrieda is thinking about reasons to stay alive or only trying to find an exit. Elfrieda does not answer directly. Asked whether those opposing forces are battling in her mind, she compares the fight to Rodney King versus the LAPD. When Yolandi asks whether Elfrieda understands how much she will be missed, Elfrieda looks at her, tears filling her eyes, but remains silent. Yolandi leaves the room; Elfrieda calls her name, and when Yolandi stops, Elfrieda says, “You’re not a slut. There’s no such thing.”

Reassurance as Teaching

The remark does not answer Yolandi’s questions about death, and the passage does not explain what prompted its specific wording. Instead, it addresses Yolandi directly and refuses the premise of the insult: there is no legitimate category by which she should be condemned in this way. Elfrieda’s immediate follow-up, “Didn’t I teach you anything?”, frames that refusal as something already shared between the sisters—a lesson she expects Yolandi to remember, even in a conversation otherwise marked by unanswered questions and tears.