Slut-shaming

In human sexuality, slut-shaming is the act of making, or attempting to make, a person, especially a woman or girl, feel guilty or inferior for certain sexual behaviors, circumstances, or desires that deviate from traditional or orthodox gender expectations, or that which may be considered to be contrary to natural or religious law. Some examples of circumstances where women are "slut-shamed" include violating accepted dress codes by dressing in sexually provocative ways, requesting access to birth control,^[1][2][3] having premarital, casual, or promiscuous sex, or being raped or otherwise sexually assaulted (which is known as victim blaming).^[4]

Definitions and characteristics

Slut shaming is defined by many as a process in which women are attacked for their transgression of accepted codes of sexual conduct,^[5] i.e., of admonishing them for behavior or desires that are more sexual than society finds acceptable.^[6] Emily Bazelon says that slut shaming is "retrograde, the opposite of feminist. Calling a girl a slut warns her that there's a line: she can be sexual but not too sexual."^[7] Amy Schalet argues that too much sex is a liability for girls, which often causes the discourse on the topic of girl's desire for sex to be non-existent, and that ignoring the fact that girls have sexual desire in sexual education, media, and the social sciences results in girl's having difficulty developing sexual subjectivity; she says sexual subjectivity is the capacity to feel connected to sexual desires and boundaries and use these to make self-directed decisions.^[8] Many have stated that slut shaming is used against women by both men and women.^[9] Jessica Ringrose has argued that slut-shaming functions among women as a way of sublimating sexual jealousy "into a socially acceptable form of social critique of girls' sexual expression."^[5] The term slut-shaming is also used to describe victim blaming for rape and other sexual assault; e.g. by stating that the crime was caused (either in part or in full) by the woman wearing revealing clothing or previously acting in a forward, sexual manner, before not consenting to sex,^[4] and thereby absolving the perpetrator of guilt.

Men and women alike are culprits of "slut-shaming": The study "Birds of a feather? Not when it comes to sexual permissiveness," published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, notes that sexually lenient individuals are judged more negatively than non-permissive peers, which places those who are more permissive at risk of social isolation.^[10] The researchers from Cornell University found that similar sentiments appeared in nonsexual, same-sex friendship context as well.^[10] The researchers had college women read a vignette describing an imaginary female peer, "Joan," then rate their feelings about her personality.^[10] To one group of women, Joan was described as having two lifetime sexual partners; to another group, she had had twenty partners.^[11] The study found that women—even women who were more promiscuous themselves—rated the Joan with 20 partners as "less competent, emotionally stable, warm, and dominant than the Joan who'd only boasted two".^[10][11]

An article in the New York Daily News described yet another mode of "slut-shaming": in meme form.^[12] Young girls, and increasingly boys, have begun to generate memes on Tumblr and Facebook to offer mock – and often insulting – advice to their peers.^[12] For example: "Hey Girls. Did you know? That you spread Nutella...Not your legs," reads one such viral post.^[12]

In the media

Two women protesting about victim-blaming and slut-shaming at New York City's SlutWalk in October 2011.

The SlutWalk protest march started in Toronto in response to an incident where a Toronto Police officer told a group of students that they could avoid sexual assault by not dressing like "sluts".^[4][13][14]

The term has since been used when describing the comments of Rush Limbaugh during the Rush Limbaugh–Sandra Fluke controversy.^[15] It is speculated that the controversy that erupted may have long-term effects on the incidence of slut-shaming in broadcast media.^[3]

James Miller, editor-in-chief, for the Ludwig von Mises Institute of Canada wrote a controversial article defending slut shaming.^[16] The article was later taken down, but still received criticism from some libertarians, such as Gina Luttrell of Thoughts on Liberty, an all-female libertarian blog.^[17]

Additionally, the performance apparel and dance-moves of pop-star Miley Cyrus at the 2013 VMA Awards created "slut-shaming" uproar.^[18] Her performance of "We Can't Stop," which was performed as a duet with Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines," was called "lewd, grotesque and shameful."^[18] Notably, The Washington Post noted the lack of criticism towards Robin Thicke: "While Cyrus was condemned for grinding on Thicke, very little criticism has been laid on the singer himself for his role in the performance."^[18]

In literature

There are several instances in literature in which women are degraded or admonished for their promiscuity. In these novels, men are largely excluded from the public outrage that their female counterparts endure for engaging in relationships deemed socially inappropriate:

• In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is forced to wear a scarlet letter "A" to display her adulterous affair for her whole town.^[19]

• In Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, the title character has a highly public affair with the affluent Count Vronsky: Anna Karenina is rejected by her friends, while the reputation of Count Vronsky remains more or less untarnished.^[19]

Attempts to stop the practice

Members of The Arts Effect All-Girl Theater Company have developed a play, "Slut," in which they address the damaging impact of slut shaming and slut culture.^[20][21] The creators note that their play "is a call to action – a reminder" that slut-shaming is happening every day, almost everywhere.^[21] "Slut" is inspired by real-life experiences of 14–17 year-old girls from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.^[21] The play was shown at the 2013 New York Fringe Festival.^[21][22]

In her statement on the production, and of slut-shaming in general, author of Slut! Growing Up Female with a Bad Reputation, Leora Tanenbaum writes: "A teenage girl today is caught in an impossible situation. She has to project a sexy image and embrace, to some extent, a 'slutty' identity. Otherwise, she risks being mocked as an irrelevant prude. But if her peers decide she has crossed an invisible, constantly shifting boundary and has become too 'slutty,' she loses all credibility. Even if she was coerced into sex, her identity and reputation are taken from her. Indeed, the power to tell her own story is wrested from her. The Arts Effect's SLUT written by Katie Cappiello vividly represents this irrational, harmful, terrible circumstance...This play is the most powerful and authentic representation of the sexual double standard I have ever seen."^[21]

Some believe that school dress codes are a form of slut shaming, and are unfair to girls and women.^[23] Some believe that these dress codes "violate Title IX, the federal law that ensures non-discrimination in educational environments."^[23] This idea has been backed up with a hashtag: #iammorethanadistraction.^[23] On Monday, September 22, 2014, "about 100 pupils walked out of Bingham high school in South Jordan, Utah."^[23] Students staged a walkout because more than a dozen girls were turned away from a homecoming dance for wearing dresses which violated the dress code rules.^[23] "School staff allegedly lined up girls against a wall as they arrived and banished about two dozen for having dresses which purportedly showed too much skin and violated the rules." It is believed that this act was awkward and humiliating towards the female students, which spawned the walkouts.^[23]

Gay male slut-shaming

One opinion on slut-shaming in men is that calling a man a "slut" is not as pejorative as it is in using the word against women, and that the term has more of a positive connotation with men.^[24]

Some gay males see the behaviors which are said to encourage slut-shaming as actually being positive.^[25]

Some gay rights activists have said that environments which have slut-shaming are more likely to lead to gay men engaging in practices which lead to increased rates of HIV infection.^[26]

There are reports that gay men who use the drug Truvada to lower risk of contracting HIV encounter slut-shaming for being at risk of contracting HIV.^[27]

See also

• Sexual bullying
• Victim blaming

References