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 perceived sexually provocative ways, requesting access to birth control , [5] [6] [7] having premarital , casual , or promiscuous sex, engaging in prostitution , [8] [9] or when being victim blamed for being raped or otherwise sexually assaulted.
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 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 considered to be a form of social punishment and is an aspect of sexism , as well as female intrasexual competition.
The social movement falls into the category of feminism. This raises controversy because gender roles do 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 usually toward girls and women, and boys and men usually do not get slut-shamed. Slut-shaming is common in America because it is such a high-context culture. Slut-shaming is strongly associated with victim-blaming.
Researchers from Cornell University found that sentiments similar to slut-shaming appeared in nonsexual, same-sex friendship context as well. There is no documented date of origin for the term slut-shaming ; nor the act of it. Rather, although the act of slut-shaming has existed for centuries, discussion of it has grown out of social and cultural relations and the trespassing of boundaries of what is considered normative and acceptable behavior.
Second wave of feminism contributed significantly to the definition and act of slut-shaming. Tracing back to the Industrial Revolution and the second World War , men's gender roles were that of the breadwinner. Men made up a majority of the labor force while women were socialized and taught to embrace the cult of domesticity and homemaking.
