Slut-shaming

Slut-shaming is the practice of criticizing people who violate expectations of behavior and appearance regarding issues related to sexuality.[1][2][3] It may also be used in reference to gay men, who may face disapproval for promiscuous sexual behaviors.[1][4] Gender-based violence primarily affecting women can be a result of slut-shaming.[5] The term is commonly used to reclaim the word slut and empower women to have agency over their own sexuality.[3]

Examples of slut-shaming include criticism or punishment for: violating dress code policies by dressing in sexually provocative ways; requesting access to birth control;[6][7][8] having premarital, extramarital, casual, or promiscuous sex; or engaging in prostitution or other sex work.[9][10] It can also include being victim-blamed for being raped or otherwise sexually assaulted.[11][12]

  1. ^ a b Brian N. Sweeney (2017). "Slut Shaming". The SAGE Encyclopedia of Psychology and Gender. SAGE Publications. doi:10.4135/9781483384269. ISBN 978-1-4833-8426-9. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  2. ^ Jaclyn Friedman (2011). What You Really Really Want: The Smart Girl's Shame-Free Guide to Sex and Safety. Da Capo Press. p. 200. ISBN 978-1-58005-430-0. Retrieved April 22, 2018. As we explored in chapter 2, 'slut-shaming' is an umbrella term for all kinds of language and behaviors that are intended to make women and girls feel bad about being sexual.
  3. ^ a b Jessalynn Keller (2015). Girls' Feminist Blogging in a Postfeminist Age. Routledge. p. 93. ISBN 978-1-317-62776-0. Retrieved April 22, 2018. The phrase [slut-shaming] became popularized alongside the SlutWalk marches and functions similarly to the 'War on Women,' producing affective connections while additionally working to reclaim the word 'slut' as a source of power and agency for girls and women.
  4. ^ Williamson, Kit (November 3, 2015). "Gay Men Should Be Ashamed of Slut-Shaming". The Advocate. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  5. ^ Goblet, Margot; Glowacz, Fabienne (2021-06-21). "Slut Shaming in Adolescence: A Violence against Girls and Its Impact on Their Health". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 18 (12): 6657. doi:10.3390/ijerph18126657. ISSN 1660-4601. PMC 8296320. PMID 34205692.
  6. ^ Lamb, Sharon (27 June 2008). "The 'Right' Sexuality for Girls". Chronicle of Higher Education. 54 (42): B14–B15. ISSN 0009-5982. In Dilemmas of Desire: Teenage Girls Talk About Sexuality (Harvard University Press, 2002), Deborah L. Tolman complained that we've 'desexualized girls' sexuality, substituting the desire for relationship and emotional connection for sexual feelings in their bodies.' Recognizing that fact, theorists have used the concept of desire as a way to undo the double standard that applauds a guy for his lust, calling him a player, and shames a girl for hers, calling her a slut.
  7. ^ Albury, Kath; Crawford, Kate (18 May 2012). "Sexting, consent and young people's ethics: Beyond Megan's Story". Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies. 26 (3): 463–473. doi:10.1080/10304312.2012.665840. S2CID 145401204. Certainly the individualizing admonishment to 'think again' offers no sense of the broader legal and political environment in which sexting might occur, or any critique of a culture that requires young women to preserve their 'reputations' by avoiding overt demonstrations of sexual knowingness and desire. Further, by trading on the propensity of teenagers to feel embarrassment about their bodies and commingling it with the anxiety of mobiles being ever present, the ad becomes a potent mix of technology fear and body shame.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference limbaugh was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Tesla, Carrasquillo (2014-01-01). "Understanding Prostitution and the Need for Reform". Touro Law Review. 30 (3). ISSN 8756-7326.
  10. ^ Chateauvert, Melinda (2014-02-07). Sex Workers Unite: A History of the Movement from Stonewall to Slutwalk. Beacon Press. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-8070-6139-8. It encouraged women to be angry about whore stigma and slut-shaming for pursuing sexual pleasure or trading sex for money
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference asking was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Chateauvert, Melinda (2014-01-07). Sex Workers Unite: A History of the Movement from Stonewall to SlutWalk. Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0-8070-6140-4. Slut-shaming implies that victims of sex violence "asked for it" because they were sexually promiscuous or dressed provocatively.