While the origin of the word slut is unknown, the implications of it have been felt for over 500 years and it is time we say enough is enough .
Last semester, I spoke briefly on the topic of slut shaming. But since I didn’t really do a comprehensive discussion of the topic (and because this is my blog and I call the shots) I decided to write a full post on it.
According to NoBullying.com, Slut shaming is, “the act of making a girl or a woman feel guilty about certain sexual behaviors that deviate from societal norms.” Additionally, slut shaming is a way that blame is often shifted from an attacker to a ‘sexual promiscuous’ victim in cases of sexual assault (see my post about victim blaming for more information on the phenomenon). Generally, slut shaming is a way for men and other women to shame a woman for expressing her sexuality in a way that they do not approve of.
There are obviously many problems with this the most obvious of which being that nobody should be publicly shamed for their personal choices. As long as the behavior of so-called ‘sluts’ doesn’t harm others, there is no reason that anyone should pass judgment on that behavior. Past interactions between consenting adults may not be used as evidence in a court of law to discount the testimony victim and further should not be a judgment on the character or so called morality of a ‘slut.’
Additionally, there is a gender double standard that has traditionally been present when it comes to slut shaming. Generally, women are the targets of slut shaming. Traditionally it has been held that men are supposed to be sexually promiscuous and women are not. According to a video on the YouTube channel sexplanations the analogy of the lock and key is one of these harmful analogies that is told in situations from church youth groups to public school sexual education class. Basically it goes that a good key can open many locks but a good lock can only be opened by one key. The only problem, women are humans, not locks. This analogy is state-sponsored slut shaming.
Finally, no issue of slut shaming would be complete without a discussion of dress codes. Because in our world the label slut is not just assigned to you if you are sexually promiscuous but also if you dress in a way that makes people think you are sexually promiscuous. According to an article in Time magazine , dress codes for young women in schools are blatantly sexual (cover your skin), unequal and unfair. Some dress codes are so unfair towards women that they could be in violation of Title IX.
Women should not be shamed for what they wear. A women’s worth may not be plac
ed on how much or how little skin that she is revealing. High school dress codes often come under fire for promoting slut shaming in this form. By applying different standards of dress to boys and girls, these schools perpetuate the myth that is okay to blame a women for distracting men with the way she dresses. They place the blame on the wrong party.
Recently, we have seen push against the standard of slut shaming. The use of social media has made it very easy for students to report the misconduct of school districts when it comes to enforcing dress codes that have forced schools to abandon their harmful practices. Additionally, there are the beginnings of a sexual education overhaul in American which seeks to remove harmful stereotypes from public education. The word slut itself has also begun to be reclaimed by females to be used in an endearing way. Slut walks have become a way for self-proclaimed sluts to stand in solidarity with survivors of sexual assault. Women are beginning to call themselves sluts and thereby the power of the word is undoubtedly diminishing.
Whoever said, “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” was profoundly mistaken. Words hurt, sometimes even more than being hit. But with a bit of work I believe that we can take the power away from hurtful words. So don’t slut shame, don’t judge, and please don’t call anyone a slut.
Ohhh CAMS burn. Take that Johnna. But on a separate note, slut shaming is certainly an interesting force in our society. As Hannah B. pointed out, it is hard to respect someone who doesn’t respect themselves.
But, on a different note, while I respect women’s right to dress as they wish and not be judged for her sexual expression, I have a hard time understanding why some women dress in a way that is really disrespectful to themselves. I think it is important to note that while some women dress in a “provocative” way to feel good about themselves… there is a large portion of women who dress for the purposes of attracting men. Wouldn’t our world be a better place if both genders stopped objectifying themselves?
I love this post, I think about this stuff all the time because I feel like “slut shaming” is all over the place ever since I got here. It’s always been in the media, but now it’s much more present in our everyday lives too. The double standard is infuriating on so many levels. I’ve also heard some awful dress code stories about principals aggressively going after high school girls, it’s ridiculous.
But I can’t really get down with the idea of women reclaiming “slut.” I do say it to my friends jokingly sometimes anyway and the word doesn’t always bother me, but I would never proudly call myself a slut. The word “bitch” is different for some reason, I’m not really sure why. But I would definitely call myself a bitch in a positive way. Maybe because women have sort of changed the meaning of the word — it can mean “powerful” or “confident” or “strong.” But how does the meaning of “slut” change when we reclaim it? Either way, there’s something about men using both words against girls that really gets under my skin.
Johnna, the term “slut” has been around for way, way longer than 500 years. The classical history major should know. ;p
There is a very blatant distinction between men’s and women’s sexuality and sexual activities that has existed ever since ancient times. Men were frequently told to go out and “to sow his wild oats” (gotta have a little Hamlet here) while women were meant to be virgins until their arranged marriages took place. And the “slut shaming” for women who were not virgins before their weddings was much worse than today’s utilization, let me tell you.
The whole sexually derogatory name-calling culture that exists today is quite strange. People of both genders unquestioningly call someone a slut or a whore whenever the said person does something personally offensive, stupid, weird, or “wrong” in the eyes of the beholder. We do this without really thinking what we are saying/implying and without feeling any kind of moral remorse/questionability. It’s just automatic now, which is so saddening on multiple levels. However, women will also openly call themselves sluts and whores, either about/to themselves or about/to their close friends. This creates a somewhat confusing double standard. If people do not hold respect for themselves, is it still wrong for others not to respect them? (Personally, I still say “yes” because of moral reasoning, but you get the idea.) Going off your last sentence, people should not only choose not to call others sluts, but should also not call themselves sluts.