Slut-shaming is the practice of criticizing people, especially women and girls, who are perceived to violate expectations of behavior and appearance regarding issues related to sexuality. Examples of slut-shaming include being criticized or punished for: violating dress code policies by dressing in sexually provocative ways; requesting access to birth control ; [5] [6] [7] having premarital , extramarital , casual , or promiscuous sex; or engaging in prostitution.
Slut-shaming involves criticizing women for their transgression of accepted codes of sexual conduct, [12] i. Slut-shaming is used by men and women. This blaming is done by stating the crime was caused either in part or in full by the woman wearing revealing clothing or acting in a sexually provocative manner, before refusing consent to sex, [10] thereby absolving the perpetrator of guilt.
Sexually lenient individuals can be at risk of social isolation. The action of slut-shaming can be a form of social punishment and is an aspect of sexism , as well as female intrasexual competition. Slut-shaming is a form of intrasexual competition because the term "slut" reduces the value of a woman.
Being termed a "slut" is against a woman's gender norms. The social movement falls into the category of feminism. This raises controversy because gender roles have a significant role in the social movement. The topic of slut-shaming sheds light on the social issues that are associated with the double standard. This is because slut-shaming is commonly aimed toward women, and not men. Slut-shaming is common in America because it is such a high-context culture , which means it is easier to be victim blamed.
Researchers from Cornell University found that sentiments similar to slut-shaming appeared in a nonsexual, same-sex friendship context as well. There is no documented date of origin for the term slut-shaming ; nor the act of it.
