Slut-shaming
Slut-shaming refers to the practice of criticizing or belittling women for their sexual desires or behaviors, often rooted in societal norms that enforce stricter standards for female sexuality compared to male sexuality. This behavior has gained visibility since the early 2010s, although the underlying attitudes have existed for much longer. Feminist scholars and sociologists highlight a pervasive double standard in societal attitudes, where women face harsher judgments for sexual promiscuity and are often subjected to scrutiny regarding their clothing choices. Initiatives like SlutWalk protests, which began in 2011, aim to challenge these attitudes by advocating for victim rights and addressing the culture that blames women for sexual violence based on their appearance or past behaviors.
Research indicates that both men and women can engage in slut-shaming, showcasing the impact of societal expectations on individuals regardless of gender. In addition to societal pressures, the rise of social media has amplified instances of slut-shaming, making it a more visible and widespread issue. Empirical studies reveal that negative experiences related to slut-shaming can have significant psychological effects, particularly on younger women, including issues with self-esteem and mental health. The term "slut" itself is controversial; some activists seek to reclaim it as a form of empowerment, while the intersection of race complicates these efforts, as women of color may face distinct stereotypes and challenges in the context of sexual expression.
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Subject Terms
Slut-shaming
Slut-shaming is a term that characterizes behavior that intends to criticize or degrade women for sexual desires or for being adventurous or open about their sexual behavior. Slut-shaming is a collective term that refers to powerful social norms that attempt to police female sexuality more strongly than male sexuality. As a relatively new term, slut-shaming has garnered significant media and scholarly attention since the early 2010s, although the behavior the term describes has existed for much longer. Feminist scholars and sociologists have long noted that deeply entrenched double standards in social attitudes towards expressions of male and female sexuality exist in most regions of the world. These double standards range from cultural expectations that females remain chaste until marriage, to harsher value judgments against woman for engaging in promiscuous behavior and casual sex, to stricter scrutiny of women’s style of dress in public settings (along with much greater relative disapproval of females who dress in manners deemed revealing). Critics of slut-shaming practices often point out that female displays of sexuality do not exist within a vacuum, but instead operate within larger sociocultural contexts that are rarely, if ever, analyzed or scrutinized to the same degree as female sexuality itself. Importantly, empirical research indicates that women are equally as likely, if not more so, to slut-shame other women as are men.
Background
The term slut-shaming dates to the early twenty-first century. In April 2011, Sonya Barnett and Heather Jarvis organized the first SlutWalk demonstration in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in response to a Toronto police officer Michael Sanguinetti's recommendation during a public safety lecture that women "should avoid dressing like sluts" in order to protect themselves from sexual assault. The use of the term slut in SlutWalk is intended to mock the Toronto officer’s original comment that triggered the development of the event. SlutWalks have since become an annual international phenomenon and have been held in several other nations, including the United States, Mexico, Germany, South Africa, and India, among others. SlutWalks publicly protest rape, sexual assault, slut-shaming, and attitudes that blame the victim in cases where women have been the targets of sexual violence. Persistent attitudes among law enforcement officials and the general public suggest that women bear responsibility for their own rape on the basis of the clothing they wear or reputations the hold on the basis of past sexual activity. A common practice among SlutWalk demonstrators is to dress in the exact clothing they were wearing when they were sexually assaulted to underscore that women have experienced sexual violence, even when dressed modestly, conservatively, or professionally. Feminist scholars and anti–sexual assault activists use the term rape culture to refer to social attitudes that primarily blame women for being victims of rape, while placing little to no responsibility for rape on male perpetrators.
Sociological and psychological research indicates that members of society are socialized into adopting slut-shaming attitudes during adolescence. A 2011 survey conducted by the American Association of University Women revealed that 46 percent of middle school and high school girls have experienced unsolicited sexual comments or jokes about themselves at least once. A similar study put out in 2018 by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center reported that 56 percent of girls between seventh and twelfth grade have experienced sexual harassment. According to psychologists and counselors, such experiences can negatively affect a girl’s reputation and have powerful psychological impacts. This kind of bullying can contribute to depression, low self-esteem, loss of friendships, self-hatred, negative attitudes towards sex, and suicidal tendencies. Some critics also point out that middle and high school dress codes often more heavily scrutinize girls’ clothing styles than those of boys—particularly in regards to prohibiting clothing considered "revealing" or "sexy." The implication is that females bear ultimate responsibility for ensuring that they do not distract or arouse their male counterparts while males are perceived as bearing no responsibility for managing their sexual urges.
Overview
Males and females alike frequently engage in slut-shaming practices, reflecting that both sexes are influenced by the cultural norms of the society in which they grow up. It is a behavior seen in the media; for example, radio host Rush Limbaugh called graduate student Sandra Fluke a whore for trying to advocate for healthcare coverage for birth control in Congress. The Internet, in particular, has facilitated an increase in slut-shaming across social media platforms. A five-year joint study conducted by sociologists from the University of Michigan and the University of California, Merced found that a class-based dynamic affects slut-shaming tendencies among female college students. The study interviewed fifty-three women living in a dorm at an unnamed Midwestern university and revealed that slut-shaming serves to reinforce social class divides among females on campus.
The results of the study surprised its researchers, who later admitted that they originally thought that slut-shaming was a practice only used by men to regulate women’s sexuality. Growing research indicates that females are also likely to invoke slut-shaming as a means of distinguishing themselves from other females. Writing in the Huffington Post, columnist Sarah Fader points out that she experiences much more disapproval and stigmatization from females than males when she openly admits that she enjoys sex or engages in sexually frank conversations. Women are just as guilty as men of this bullying behavior, and both genders police female sexuality and maintain social norms.
Meanwhile, the term slut remains controversial. Some feminist activists have attempted to reappropriate it in order to refute the social stigmas against open expressions of female sexuality to which the term alludes. Black feminist activists have pointed out that White women have greater leeway to reappropriate the term than do non-White women, given the divergent constructions of female identity and feminism along racial lines. Whereas White women historically have been considered in American society as the epitome of womanhood (in terms of beauty and sexual morality), African American, Latina, and Asian women have historically been stereotyped in American society as innately hypersexual, promiscuous, and sexually irresponsible. Thus, while White women who self-identify as sluts even if in ironic contexts may be committing a revolutionary act, non-white women who do so risk reinforcing racialized gender oppression and stereotypes.
Bibliography
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