User:Obeyjassi/Slut-shaming

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Definition and Characteristics:

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. Slut-shaming is a form of intrasexual competition because the term "slut" reduces the value of a woman, as being a "slut" is against a woman's gender norms.

Slut-shaming is used by men and women. Slut-shaming functions among girls and women as a way of sublimating sexual jealousy "into a socially acceptable form of social critique of girls' or women's sexual expression." Women who slut-shame other women continuously apply disadvantageous sexual double standards which were established by men. The term is also used to describe victim blaming for rape and other sexual assault. 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, thereby absolving the perpetrator of guilt. Sexually lenient individuals can be at risk of social isolation.

History:

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. Author Emily Poole argues that the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s increased the rate of both birth control use, as well as rates of premarital sex. Moreover, feminist writers during the 1960s and 1970s which include, Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, and Kate Millett, encouraged women to be more open with their sexuality in public settings.

Slut-shaming has correlation to an individual's socio-economic status, which is characterized by wealth, education, and occupation. In the 18th century, "slut" was a common term used by men and upper-class women to degrade lower-class female servants. The context behind upper-class women and men calling their servants a "slut" includes occasions when the servants were being sexually assaulted by their male employers. Upper-class women calling other women "sluts" proved their adherence to their socio-economic status over their gender.