The Definition of the Phrase Slut Shaming

ÑSlut shaming is the deliberate act of calling a woman a slut, a whore or impugning her character in sexual terms in order to embarrass, humiliate, intimidate, degrade or shame her for actions or behaviors that are a normal part of female sexuality. Although the act of slut-shaming is not exclusive to either gender, females of every age -- from girls to adults -- often engage in slut-shaming to put down or express contempt for another female. Slut-shaming is often associated with mean girl behavior but is not restricted to that age group. A slut-shaming story from a personal blog illustrates how this practice can happen in the unlikeliest of settings: [O]ne church member...called another member a slut because of the latter’s shoes (which had been part of a Halloween costume) with stiletto heels. It was a joke...[which] hints at the truth...that even if you are a good Christian, if you also happen to be wearing certain clothes, you will be stigmatized sexually if you are a woman. Slut shaming entered the public consciousness in 2010 due to two separate events: the suicide of Phoebe Prince, a high school student who was so humiliated by her classmates that she hanged herself; and the 2010 midterm election in which two Congressional candidates, Christine ODonnell, and Krystal Ball, were attacked by the website Gawker which published an anonymous tell-all about a night spent with ODonnell and candid photos of Ball at a Christmas party posing with sex toys. Slut shaming was also depicted in the CBS series The Good Wife when a female candidates breast augmentation surgery was revealed by her male opponent. In the episode which originally aired November 9, 2010, the candidate directly addressed the situation and revealed she was a breast cancer survivor who had kept her double mastectomy a secret and was having breast reconstructive surgery following cancer treatment.