According to Urban Dictionary, the number one most thumbed-up definition for the word slut is “a woman with the morals of a man.” It’s a derogatory word used by classmates, media reporters, and even politicians to objectify and ridicule women who don’t fit the status quo for how a traditional feminine woman should act. “Slut-shaming” is the unfortunate phenomenon in our society in which many women are constantly criticized and degraded for their perceived promiscuity or sexuality. While many people defend their opinions by saying that sluts do not have any self-respect and lack decent morals, it is clearly ignorant and should not be tolerated. In fact, slut-shaming is a dangerous problem because it contributes to the double-standard of women, is a form of bullying that leads to horrible consequences, and plays a huge part in rape culture through victim blaming.
However, some people still carry the misogynist mindset that women who act like a “slut” simply lack positive guidance and that this new mainstream shaming might help prevent naive girls from making bad decisions. George Tyndale from The Sunday Mercury defends his position by saying, “Peer pressure is the only thing that many young girls respond to, and if fellow teenagers are the only thing that makes them think twice about their appearance and behavior, then so be it” (Tyndale). Many others agree with him, as well as blame other girls for their “cattiness” and are disgusted by the disturbing over-sexualization in today’s media. They justify their crude remarks by believing that they are helping them; that their slander is actually sensible advice that should be taken (Tyndale). Instead, they are contributing to a society that dehumanizes women and makes it seem like we ...
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Women of color are treated differently; law does not function as a social mediator between relationships of all people. The focus is on women of colour and how non-white communities are considered inherently violent. By such stereotypes, rape myths create a belief that certain races are more dangerous than others, creating fear based on the social construction of society. Using the ``Slut Walk`` article as an example: women have argued ``it is different for a white middle class women to wear something slutty and march in a parade than a women of colour.`` Due to the social construction black woman are more likely to have their characters stereotype and are seen more promiscuous compared to white woman. (Julie Dowsett Lecture).Stereotyping has even gone so far where a police official made a comment about York university students, referring to the females saying “they should not dress like a slut” to reduce assault (Slutwalk 249). Such rape myths put women on the line, claiming that it is their fault for getting sexually assaulted because they provoke men. “Such stereotypical assumptions find their roots in many cultures, including our own. They no longer, however, find a place in Canadian law” (R. v. Ewanchuck
With so many opportunities to learn about their sexuality denied, Latina girls are forced to empower their own sexual knowledge on their own or with the help of friends. One example is through the use of self-respect. Similar to how mothers often instill a sense of self-respect on to their daughters, many Latina girls use the same concept to redefine the concept of the good girl/ bad girl dichotomy. Instead of the act itself automatically labeling girls as bad girls, it is the reasoning behind their sexual activities that ultimately matter. If a girl has sex within an established sexual relationship, that may or may not be defined as love, she is viewed as a good girl. But if a girl has indiscriminate sexual relations without regard to their own sexual health, she is labeled a skank or a hoe and thus a bad girl. Additionally, young Latinas often empower their sexuality, through the
It is also a story in which a girl who is raped is labelled a slut and ostracized by her community rather than supported. Part of the reason this happens is because is that many of our school systems value sports – which can generate income and good press – over people, so we are often willing to overlook the bad behavior of our sports stars. It’s cognitively easier for us to blame the victim and dismiss the severity of the crime than it is for us to break down the ideals we build up in our minds about these men and women we declare “stars”; we write cultural narratives that idolize our subjects and when we get information that contradicts that we have such a difficult time with this incongruent information that it’s easier for us to deflect blame elsewhere. This is one of the reasons why we continue to talk about slut shaming. As Christa Desir points out repeatedly, slut shaming is one of the reasons that more
Deborah Tolman author of “Dilemmas of Desire” dwells on uncovering a wealth of feelings about sexuality from teenage girls who are faced with a lot of struggles in developing sexual identity and detached from their sexuality. One of her main argument is centered on the juxtaposition of media representations of girls as highly sexualized objects. For instance, “the urban girl is viewed as the overly sexual young jezebel. Latinas are often eroticized as exotic, sexually alluring and available.” (Tolman, pg.170). I agree with this statement due to simple fact that we are living in a highly sexualized cultural milieu and evidence of sexualization is seen through mainstream culture. Images such as Sarah Bartman depict African American/ urban portrayal of sexual imagery formed socio-historical
A Study Conducted by the American Psychological Association Task Force concluded that sexualization occurs when a person’s value comes only from his or her sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of other characteristics; a person is held to a standard that equates physical attractiveness (narrowly defined) with being sexy; a person is sexually objectified- that is, made into a thing for others’ sexual use, rather than seen as a person with the capacity for independent action and decision making; and/or sexuality is inappropriately imposed upon a person. The APA Task Force reported many example of the sexualization of girls, such as toy manufactures duce dolls wearing black leather miniskirts, feather boas, and thigh-high boots and market them to 8- to 12-year-old girls. Clothing stores sell thongs sized for 7– to 10-year-old girls, some printed with slogans such as “eye candy” or “wink wink”; other thongs sized for women and late adolescent girls are imprinted with characters from Dr. Seuss and the Muppets. In the world of child beauty pageants, 5-year-old girls wear fake teeth, hair extensions, and makeup and are encouraged to “flirt” onstage by batting their long, false eyelashes. Journalists, child advocacy organizations, parents, and psychologists have become alarmed according to the APA Task Force, arguing that the sexualization of girls is a broad and increasing problem and is harmful to girls, and I for one agree with their proposition.
Firminger examines the ways these magazines represent young males and females. She reveals that these magazines talks about the physical appearance of young girls but also their sexuality, emotions, and love life. The author informs how the advice given by the magazines is negative. The author also argues that these magazines focus more on their social life than how their academic performance
Throughout history, the female form has always been a prevalent source of artistic muse. The introduction of the modern photographic camera allowed the objectification of women to increase exponentially. In today’s society, women of all ages struggle to exemplify what is perceived as the ideal female form. Studies show that women – beginning in their mid-teen years – experience a steady degeneration of self-esteem relative to the level of dissatisfaction with their internal body image. The decline of self-image in women can be directly linked to several contributing factors including: film and print advertising, social media, and the early exposure of adolescent girls to overly-sexualized products and media.
With incarceration costs becoming high there are new alternatives rising, one of the most popular being public shaming. Public shaming should not be considered appropriate for any offense that can result in a short jail term. Public shaming can do so much emotional damage to someone, and no one should feel such incredible humiliation or self hatred. People who endure public shaming cannot bear to live with themselves sometimes that it could lead them to do something irrational. Public shaming at times is not even a punishment for some, if someone does a crime they should also do the time. Public shaming can comes with serious consequences if given to the wrong person and if given to others it is just a slap on the wrist. Crimes should be taken seriously and so should the punishments. People should go to jail or do community service based on what they have done, they should not be let go so easily.
The most common word used to describe Miley these days is the word slut. People have no problem calling Miley a slut because she is a celebrity and we feel like it’s okay to insult them. This makes the word slut a common phrase in our everyday vocabulary. Which creates the culture of “slut-shaming” a term coined by Lijia Gong and Alina Hoffman. They define slut-shaming an “act of criticizing or insulting individuals for their perceived sexual availability, behavior, or history as a way to shame or degrade them.” (Gong, Hoffman 580). We now define a girl’s worth in society by how virtuous she is. From an early childhood women are taught to act proper ladies and dress more conservative. It is thought that if a woman bases a large part...
Modern America, in accordance to course materials and personal experiences, overtly sexualizes people, specifically among the youth, engendering new versions of gender expectations, roles, relationships, and how society views people based on appearance, sexual promiscuity or supposed promiscuity, and so on. Easy A (2011) represents an example clarifying how gender socialization impacts today’s youth via several concepts such as slut shaming, slut glorification, challenging masculinity, dating/hooking up, gender expectations and social acceptance. This film primarily focuses on a female’s promiscuity. Olive, the main character, is automatically labeled slut, after a rumor she unintentionally sparked by a bathroom conversation. Soon, the rumor spread and Olive became “school slut” in minutes.
Leora Tanenbaum’s book Slut! imposes the argument of the unfairness and small mindedness of the sexual double standard between teenagers and what leads them to label others of the name slut. Throughout the book, the author discloses many different studies and stories to help the readers understand the underlying cause and issue of the name slut and how it affects different girls and women around the country.
Due to the girl’s current lifestyle and behavior, the mother is focused on sharing the value to save her daughter from a life of promiscuity. The mother fears her daughter will become a “slut” and insists that is exactly what the daughter desires. Moreover, the mother is very blunt with her view when she uses repetition with the statement, “… the slut you are so bent on becoming.” (Kincaid92). It is very clear that the mother holds a reputation to such a standard that it could determine the overall quality of a woman and her life. Therefore, a woman’s sexuality should be protected and hidden to present the woman with respect and to avoid the dangers of female sexuality. The mother is very direct in calling out certain, specific behaviors of the daughter. Such as, the way the daughter walks, plays with marbles, and approaches other people. The mother is very persistent that the daughter must act a certain way that can gain their community’s respect. She fears the social consequence of a woman’s sexuality becoming
All United States schools have been enforcing dress codes with regulations similar to the one exemplified by the girl from Haven, Illinois. Dress codes such as these have been put in place particularly for female students all around the nation in hopes that girls will gain more self respect and become more modest. However, instead this often this leads to the ridicule of girls and “slut shaming” (Dockterman).
We may be personally responsible for our own misconceptions of gender and masculinity. Our actions about these topics speak louder than words. Sociologist, Ann Oakley argues that parents often mold their children around certain behaviors, with positive and negative consequences, to adhere to the standards that are socially acceptable. Oddly there is a strong back lash to this sort of treatment in females. In a study done conducted by Michael Messner, when asked who was a tomboy and who was a sissy as children, women raised their hands more often to identify with the tomboy image. The tomboy trait celebrates masculinity and restricts femininity. Often children explore many traits about themselves, as Allen explained to Pascoe, “When you’re younger…you’re a kid. You are wide open…You just do what you want” (Pascoe 118). Darnell, a football player, stated “Since you were little boys you’ve been told, ‘hey don’t be a little faggot’” (p 55). Darnell showcasing that males are conditioned very early like females about their roles of masculinity. These children are taught about how masculinity works. In the school Pascoe researched, a faculty member, Mr. Ford, reminded males students through his reply to a backhanded comment made to him from another student that men should engage in sexual actives with women, not men. Another...
Body shaming is a form of verbal action by mocking, judging or giving critical comments about an individual’s body shape or size. It had played a significant role on the rise of the young American women who are suffering with low self-esteem, insecurity and eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa. For generations American society has set the standards for women, to how a woman should look or present herself and especially what is considered beautiful and desirable in terms of body image. One live in a world where supermodel body, the fit body and the twiggy or skin and bones body are considered acceptable, attractive and desirable in the eye of the society. This stereotypical ideology has been