We’ve all been there.
Maybe it was your ex’s new girlfriend. Maybe it was the girl wearing a V-neck top behind you in class. Maybe it was the girl in the bikini on our Instagram feed.
Slut.
Slut-shaming isn’t anything new. It probably isn’t something you think about very often either. I didn’t think much of it either. It was just another word, right?
That was until one day in my gender and violence class. The professor started talking about gender roles and how slut-shaming specifically creates a unique double standard in which women are judged more harshly for failing to uphold traditional gender norms and standards more so than men. Women are limited by what they wear, how they act, and the ways they express their sexuality. If a woman fails to conform, she is targeted, labeled, and subsequently shamed, especially by other women.
But why?
Of course, the word “slut” itself has different meanings for different people; sometimes synonymous with “trashy”, sometimes a dig at another woman’s apparent promiscuity, the word itself has such a negative connotation that the stigma it perpetuates is like a scarlet letter. Although there has been a movement to reclaim the word “slut” in the name of female empowerment, slut-shaming itself isn’t going away anytime soon.
So the question remains. Why? Why do we care? What does it matter?
It doesn’t.
At the end of the day, our thoughts and opinions regarding another woman’s clothing, behavior, and the way she chooses to express her sexuality do not matter. Likewise, one woman’s sexual behavior and choices do not make her any better (or lesser) than another woman.
People will always be judgemental, whether it’s of others or of ourselves. At the very least, we can try a little harder to refrain from tearing each other down.