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Slut

Slut is a pejorative English term originating in Middle English around 1402, initially denoting a dirty, slovenly, or untidy woman, which by the 17th century had shifted to emphasize perceived sexual promiscuity or moral laxity in women.^[1]^[2]^[3] The word's application remains overwhelmingly gendered, with empirical analyses confirming persistent sexual double standards wherein women's multiple partners elicit stronger negative judgments than men's, rooted in evolved asymmetries in parental investment and paternity uncertainty.^[4] In modern discourse, "slut-shaming"—the social stigmatization of such behavior—persists cross-culturally, often enforced more by women than men to regulate intrasexual competition and preserve mate value in reproductive markets, as evidenced by linguistic data and behavioral studies.^[5]^[6] Efforts to reclaim the term emerged prominently with the SlutWalk movement, initiated in Toronto in 2011 following a police officer's remark advising women to avoid dressing "like sluts" to prevent sexual assault, sparking global protests against victim-blaming and rape culture.^[7]^[8] Participants marched in provocative attire to assert bodily autonomy, yet the initiative faced criticism from within feminist circles for potentially reinforcing objectification, ignoring racial and class intersections in slut-shaming, and failing to address the term's entrenched biological underpinnings rather than solely cultural constructs.^[9]^[10]^[11] Despite these debates, the term continues to reflect causal realities of sexual selection, where promiscuity incurs asymmetric reputational costs for women due to higher obligatory investment in offspring.^[4]

Etymology and Origins

Linguistic Roots

The word "slut" entered Middle English around 1400 as slutte, denoting a dirty, slovenly, or untidy woman, with its earliest attestation appearing in the Coventry mystery plays, where it was used in a volley of alliterative insults paired with terms like sluttish to describe carelessness rather than moral or sexual failings.^[1] This initial sense emphasized physical dishevelment or neglect of order, akin to a kitchen maid or scullery worker associated with mess, as reflected in period texts portraying such figures without inherent connotations of promiscuity.^[3] Etymological origins remain uncertain but point to Germanic or Scandinavian influences implying sloppiness or closure in a haphazard manner, potentially from a Proto-Germanic root *slut- meaning "to close" (cognate with English "shut" and "slot"), suggesting dangling loosely or sloppy sealing that evokes untidiness; alternative derivations include dialectal English slut for "laziness" or Middle Low German slute "a drop," evoking filth or mud akin to Old English sluht "dung."^[1] ^[12] Related terms like "slattern" (emerging later in the 17th century) share this focus on slovenliness, derived from Low German slattje or Dutch slodder, reinforcing a cluster of words for disorderly females without early moral judgment.^[13] The term's non-sexual baseline in these roots underscores a practical critique of hygiene and diligence, distinct from later interpretive layers.^[3]

Shift to Sexual Connotations

By the mid-15th century, the term "slut" began acquiring a connotation of a woman with loose sexual morals, extending from its primary meaning of a dirty or untidy female, as evidenced in the "Boke of Curtasye," a Middle English courtesy book that links slovenliness to moral laxity.^[1] This linguistic evolution reflected cultural associations between personal disarray and ethical looseness, where untidiness symbolized broader disregard for social norms, including chastity expectations for women. The shift was not abrupt but gradual, influenced by patriarchal structures that equated female sloppiness with potential promiscuity, though the term retained its core sense of slatternliness into the early modern period. In Elizabethan usage, as in Shakespeare's works around 1599–1600, "slut" typically denoted a low-status woman such as a kitchen maid or servant, often with undertones of promiscuity implied by her social position rather than explicit sexual behavior; for instance, in As You Like It, it describes a "foul slut" as a slovenly or unclean female, emphasizing dirtiness over outright lewdness.^[14] This period marked a transitional phase, where the word's application to women of humble or disorderly repute began to blur with emerging judgments on sexual propriety, without fully displacing non-sexual meanings. Primary texts from the era, including courtesy literature, show "slut" applied to females whose habits deviated from ideals of domestic order, indirectly tying to moral critiques amid rising Reformation emphases on personal virtue. By the 17th century, as documented in Samuel Pepys' diary entries from the 1660s, "slut" increasingly connoted lewd or bold women, linking untidiness to lasciviousness; Pepys describes a servant girl positively as an "admirable slut" for her diligent yet cheeky service, while deriding actress Mary Davis as an "impertinent slut," suggesting a pejorative edge tied to perceived immodesty.^[15]^[16] This usage, around 1670, solidified the modern sense of a woman engaging in sex carelessly, as the term evolved to critique not just appearance but active moral failing in sexual conduct.^[1] Causal factors included post-Restoration cultural flux, where restored monarchy and theater revived frank discussions of vice, amplifying associations between female disorder and promiscuity. In the 19th century, amid Victorian norms of sexual purity that idealized female restraint, "slut" hardened into a primary slur for women exhibiting "loose morals" short of prostitution, distinguishing it from terms like "prostitute" or "harlot," which implied commercial exchange; literary examples in Brontë sisters' novels, such as Wuthering Heights (1847), deploy it pejoratively against characters defying chastity ideals, reflecting era-specific enforcement of domestic virtue.^[17] This solidification stemmed from cultural pressures of industrialization and evangelicalism, which heightened scrutiny of women's sexuality as a marker of social stability, rendering "slut" a shorthand for non-professional promiscuity without the legal connotations of sex work. The term's persistence as a gendered insult underscored causal realism in language: evolving from descriptive untidiness to prescriptive moral condemnation, driven by societal mechanisms prioritizing female sexual control.

Definitions and Connotations

Core Meanings

The term "slut" refers to a person, typically a woman, who engages in sexual promiscuity, defined as having many sexual partners or lacking restraint in sexual conduct.^[18] This usage carries a strongly pejorative connotation, implying moral disapproval or judgment for behaviors such as repeated casual sexual encounters without commitment, often evoking feelings of disgust, disdain, or contempt rather than neutral description.^[19] ^[20] In contrast to "prostitute," which denotes someone exchanging sexual acts for payment, "slut" emphasizes non-transactional promiscuity driven by perceived personal indiscretion rather than economic motive. Similarly, it differs from "nymphomaniac," a term historically applied to individuals with compulsive sexual urges resembling a pathological condition, whereas "slut" focuses on observable behavioral patterns without requiring clinical excess. These distinctions highlight "slut" as a social-moral label centered on promiscuity's perceived ethical failings, independent of compensation or diagnosable disorder.^[2]

Gender Disparities and Synonyms

The term "slut" is predominantly applied to women or girls perceived as sexually promiscuous, with rare unmitigated usage toward men, who are instead often described with neutral or approving terms such as "stud" or "player" for analogous behavior.^[21] This linguistic disparity reflects entrenched patterns in English where female-targeted pejoratives dominate evaluations of sexual activity, as evidenced by corpus analyses showing the word's semantic anchoring to women despite occasional extensions to homosexual men.^[22] Empirical surveys of slang and insult usage further indicate that men face less consistent derogation for promiscuity, with women both issuing and receiving harsher labels like "slut" in peer judgments.^[23] Synonyms for "slut" reinforce this gender specificity, including "tramp," "whore," "harlot," and British English "slag," all historically and semantically tied to women engaging in extramarital or casual sex.^[24] These terms share origins in neutral descriptors of untidiness or low status that pejorated toward female sexual agency, contrasting with male equivalents like "rake" or "libertine," which historically connoted roguish charm rather than outright condemnation.^[22] Cross-culturally, analogous labels persist, such as Spanish "zorra" (implying sly promiscuity in women) or equivalents in honor-based societies where female chastity is enforced through shaming mechanisms, as documented in anthropological reviews spanning Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Latin American contexts.^[21] Such patterns hold across diverse societies, with data from over 100 cultures indicating stricter terminological and normative sanctions on female versus male sexual freedom.^[25]

Historical Usage

Pre-Modern References

The earliest recorded uses of "slut" in English date to the early 15th century, denoting a dirty, untidy, or slovenly woman, often in contexts that enforced expectations of domestic propriety and cleanliness as markers of social order.^[2] In Middle English texts from this period, such as those associated with the Coventry mystery plays around 1400, the term "slutte" described women whose dishevelment suggested broader moral or communal disorder, reflecting norms where female tidiness symbolized household stability and virtue.^[1] Geoffrey Chaucer, writing in the late 14th century, employed variants of the word in works like The Canterbury Tales to evoke images of unkempt females whose sloppiness carried undertones of impropriety, thereby critiquing deviations from expected feminine roles in medieval society.^[26] By the Renaissance and into the 17th century, "slut" persisted in literature and personal records to denote women failing in household duties, frequently applied to servants whose messiness disrupted patriarchal domestic hierarchies.^[3] In Samuel Pepys's diary entries from the 1660s, he repeatedly labeled female domestic staff as "sluts," praising one in 1664 as "a most admirable slut" for her utility despite her untidiness, highlighting the term's role in evaluating lower-class women's labor through lenses of cleanliness and subservience. Such usages in diaries and emerging prose underscored evolving critiques where domestic slovenliness hinted at potential moral laxity, though explicit sexual connotations remained secondary to critiques of disorder.^[1] The term's application disproportionately targeted women of lower socioeconomic status, reinforcing class distinctions by associating uncleanliness with the vices presumed more common among the working poor, thus justifying social controls on their behavior. In 17th- and 18th-century contexts, phrases like "slut's pennies"—knots of dough in bread symbolizing hasty or careless baking—further embedded the word in judgments of plebeian women's inadequacy in everyday tasks, perpetuating hierarchies that linked personal hygiene to societal worth.^[27] This pattern illustrates "slut" as a longstanding instrument for norm enforcement, where accusations of slatternliness served to police gender and class boundaries without yet fully pivoting to overt sexual denigration.^[3]

19th-20th Century Shifts

In the Victorian era (1837–1901), the term "slut" intensified its pejorative associations amid rapid industrialization, urban migration, and social purity campaigns that targeted perceived moral decay. Originally denoting a merely untidy or slovenly woman since the late Middle Ages, by the mid-19th century it increasingly connoted moral laxity linked to "fallen women"—prostitutes or unwed mothers emblematic of urban vice in burgeoning cities like London and New York.^[1]^[3] Purity movements, such as the Social Purity Alliance founded in 1873 in Britain, amplified stigma against female sexual irregularity, equating slovenliness with promiscuity to enforce domestic ideals amid fears of venereal disease and social disorder; records from the period show "slut" invoked in reformist tracts and court testimonies to shame women deviating from chastity norms.^[28] This shift reflected causal pressures from economic upheaval, where factory work and city slums blurred class lines, prompting moral entrepreneurs to weaponize the term against women seen as threats to family stability.^[29] Entering the early 20th century, "slut" embedded in slang amid the 1920s flapper phenomenon and Jazz Age literature, where it denoted promiscuous women challenging post-World War I conventions, yet retained its derogatory force despite nascent liberation debates. In American slang dictionaries from the era, synonyms like "quiff" explicitly defined as "a slut or cheap prostitute" highlighted its application to boldly dressed, sexually autonomous young women, as seen in F. Scott Fitzgerald's depictions of partygoers in The Great Gatsby (1925), where implied moral judgments echoed the term's usage.^[30] European and U.S. urbanization sustained its ties to vice, with 1920s police reports and tabloids employing "slut" for women in speakeasies or dance halls, underscoring persistent stigma even as Freudian ideas and suffrage gains (e.g., U.S. 19th Amendment in 1920) sparked discussions on female desire.^[29] The term's adaptability revealed causal realism in enforcement: while flappers symbolized rebellion, societal backlash via slut-labeling reinforced gender asymmetries, with no equivalent male slur gaining traction. By mid-century, post-World War II norms in the 1940s–1950s perpetuated "slut" as a tool for upholding nuclear family ideals amid baby booms and suburbanization, contrasting sharply with 1960s counterculture stirrings. In U.S. media and literature, such as Alfred Kinsey's Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953) data showing premarital sex rates at 50% for women born 1910–1919, the term policed deviations from monogamous expectations, appearing in pulp novels and advice columns to deter "loose" behavior linked to juvenile delinquency fears.^[31] European equivalents persisted in post-war recovery discourses, where rationing and reconstruction amplified purity rhetoric; yet, Beat Generation works like Jack Kerouac's On the Road (1957) began subverting it through portrayals of nomadic women, foreshadowing countercultural challenges without fully eroding its shaming power until later decades.^[32] This era's usage underscored empirical patterns: higher divorce rates (U.S. peaking at 2.5 per 1,000 in 1946) correlated with intensified labeling to restore order, revealing the term's role in causal social control mechanisms.^[29]

Evolutionary and Biological Foundations

Sex Differences in Promiscuity Judgments

From an evolutionary perspective, human sex differences in reproductive biology underpin asymmetric social judgments of promiscuity. Females incur substantially higher obligatory parental investment, including approximately nine months of gestation, prolonged lactation, and greater vulnerability during offspring dependency, which selects for mate-guarding behaviors and preferences for partners signaling long-term commitment and low risk of infidelity.^[23] This dynamic fosters stronger stigma against female promiscuity, as it undermines paternity certainty and resource allocation to non-biological offspring, whereas male reproductive costs—primarily gamete production and minimal gestation—permit greater tolerance for own-sex promiscuity while heightening aversion to female infidelity due to cuckoldry risks estimated historically at 1-30% across societies.^[4] Empirical evidence confirms the persistence of this sexual double standard (SDS), wherein women face harsher evaluations for equivalent levels of sexual activity compared to men. A 2020 meta-analysis of 99 studies (N > 100,000 participants) across diverse cultures and methodologies found robust SDS effects, particularly for premarital and casual sex, with effect sizes indicating women are derogated more severely for promiscuity (e.g., labeled "sluts" versus men as "studs"), even after controlling for era and self-report biases.^[4] These patterns hold in vignette-based experiments and behavioral measures, contradicting claims of SDS erosion in modern egalitarian contexts.^[33] Intra-sex dynamics further illuminate enforcement mechanisms, with women exhibiting stronger slut-shaming of female peers than men do, driven by competition for high-value mates who prioritize chastity signals. Experimental studies reveal women rate promiscuous women as less attractive for relationships and more deserving of social exclusion, attributing this to intrasexual rivalry rather than mere moralism, as evidenced by heightened derogation in zero-sum mating scenarios.^[23] Men, conversely, apply SDS primarily toward potential partners but less stringently to same-sex promiscuity, aligning with lower stakes in male-male competition over sexual access.^[34] Such findings underscore causal realism in evolved sex differences, where judgments reflect adaptive responses to ancestral reproductive asymmetries rather than transient cultural artifacts. Slut-shaming functions as an evolved intrasexual competitive strategy among women, employing gossip and reputational attacks to derogate rivals perceived as promiscuous, thereby reducing their access to male provisioning and commitment in pair-bonded relationships.^[35]^[36] This mechanism discourages free-rider behavior, where individuals exploit group norms of monogamy for short-term mating gains without investing in long-term stability, which historically supported cooperative child-rearing and resource sharing in ancestral environments.^[37] Empirical studies show women derogate competitors' sexual histories more harshly than men do, with indirect aggression like rumor-spreading correlating to enhanced resource access and mate retention in competitive settings.^[4] Cross-species evidence from primates reveals analogous suppression tactics, where female chimpanzees and baboons engage in aggressive coalitions or infanticide to curtail rivals' reproductive output and secure exclusive male investment in protection and food sharing.^[38]^[39] In species with concealed ovulation, such as humans and great apes, this intrasexual rivalry intensified, evolving "mean girl" behaviors tied to estrus concealment that favor mate guarding over indiscriminate promiscuity, stabilizing paternity certainty and group cohesion.^[35] Evolutionary psychological research links aversion to female promiscuity with adaptive signals of pair-bonding reliability, as indicators of multiple mating erode perceptions of fidelity and paternal effort, prompting exclusionary responses to preserve cooperative alliances over exploitative dynamics.^[4] Meta-analyses confirm persistent sexual double standards across cultures, with women facing greater reputational costs for equivalent promiscuity levels, reflecting causal pressures from asymmetric reproductive costs rather than arbitrary social constructs.^[4] These enforcement patterns promote monogamous norms that mitigate cuckoldry risks and enhance offspring viability in resource-scarce environments.^[37]

Psychological and Health Impacts

Effects on Women

Research indicates that women with higher numbers of lifetime sexual partners exhibit elevated risks for depression and anxiety. A 2023 Mendelian randomization study established a causal association between early sexual intercourse and a greater number of sexual partners with increased incidence of major depressive disorder among women, robust across multiple analytical methods.^[40] Similarly, analyses of adolescent females have found that multiple sexual partners correlate with higher rates of sadness, suicidal ideation, and depressive symptoms, independent of other risk factors.^[41] These patterns persist into adulthood, with women reporting 10 or more lifetime partners showing greater odds of limiting long-standing illnesses, including mental health impairments.^[42] Casual sexual encounters contribute to these outcomes through disrupted neurobiological bonding processes. Women experience higher oxytocin release during intercourse compared to men, fostering attachment that can lead to emotional distress when unreciprocated in non-committed contexts, resulting in attachment issues and reduced pair-bonding capacity over time.^[43] Longitudinal observations link repeated casual sex to diminished oxytocin responsiveness, exacerbating feelings of isolation and relational dissatisfaction.^[44] Complementing this, women report significantly more post-hookup regret than men—46% versus 23% in large-scale surveys—often attributed to factors like anticipated worry, disgust, and perceived pressure, which amplify negative emotional aftermath.^[45]^[46] Long-term relational stability is also compromised, as evidenced by longitudinal data tying premarital sexual history to marital outcomes. Women with more premarital partners face substantially higher divorce risks, with the association holding after controlling for early-life variables; for instance, those with 10 or more partners prior to marriage exhibit divorce rates up to five times higher than virgins in the first five years.^[47]^[48] This history correlates with lower overall life satisfaction and heightened instability in subsequent partnerships, reflecting cumulative effects on commitment and emotional fulfillment.^[49]

Interpersonal Consequences

Women exhibit a tendency to avoid friendships with peers perceived as sexually promiscuous, primarily to safeguard their own social reputations from associative stigma. A 2013 study conducted by researchers at Cornell University found that college-aged women evaluated female peers with high numbers of sexual partners—defined as 20 or more by their early 20s—more harshly than those with fewer partners, leading to preferences for associating with less promiscuous individuals.^[50] This intrasexual avoidance mechanism operates through reputational contagion, where affiliation with a promiscuous peer risks transferring negative judgments to the self.^[50] Subsequent research has extended these findings, demonstrating that women, alongside men, impose social punishments on promiscuous female targets to regulate group norms around sexual behavior.^[51] In romantic and mating contexts, labels of promiscuity impose relational penalties, particularly for women seeking long-term partnerships. Evolutionary psychology surveys indicate that men consistently devalue women with elevated prior partner counts for commitment-oriented relationships, associating higher numbers with diminished trustworthiness and increased cuckoldry risks.^[52] A 2024 cross-cultural analysis revealed sharp declines in willingness to pursue long-term pairing as a woman's reported partner history exceeded low single digits, with men applying stricter thresholds than for short-term encounters.^[53] These preferences align with adaptive strategies prioritizing mate quality signals like sexual restraint, which correlate with perceived relational stability.^[54] Slut-shaming endures in interpersonal spheres through persistent everyday and cyber mechanisms, often reinforced by family scrutiny and peer surveillance. A 2024 qualitative study of women in Quebec and France documented how familial remarks on attire and behavior, combined with the internalized male gaze, sustain sexual shame in routine social exchanges, fostering self-policing and relational withdrawal.^[55] Online platforms exacerbate this, with 2020-2025 analyses showing slut-shaming's proliferation via digital gossip and image-based harassment, which amplifies isolation by embedding stigma in visible, enduring networks.^[56] Such dynamics perpetuate cycles of exclusion, where labeled individuals face diminished trust and alliance formation in peer groups.^[55]

Cultural Representations and Movements

In Media and Literature

In Victorian-era novels, promiscuous women were commonly depicted as "fallen" figures whose deviation from chastity norms precipitated tragic downfall, social isolation, and often death or madness, serving as cautionary exemplars of moral peril.^[57]^[58] Characters in works by authors like George Eliot exemplified coquettish or sexually deviant behavior leading to destructive personal and familial consequences, reinforcing the era's emphasis on female virtue as essential to social order.^[58] Twentieth-century films, particularly Hollywood melodramas from the 1930s to 1950s, perpetuated this stigma by portraying women who engaged in extramarital or premarital sex as morally compromised, frequently subjecting them to punishment through abandonment, illness, or redemption only via suffering and penitence.^[59] Analyses of Golden Age cinema reveal these characters as embodiments of patriarchal constraints, where promiscuity equated to deviance from prescribed femininity, often culminating in narrative resolution through subjugation or demise.^[60] Contemporary media displays mixed portrayals, with some pop music lyrics and videos from the 1960s onward incorporating promiscuous themes—such as Nelly Furtado's 2006 track "Promiscuous," which playfully centers flirtatious sexual pursuit—yet backlash underscores enduring negative associations with irresponsibility and exploitation.^[61] Studies of popular music content note a rise in explicit sexual references by female artists, but these often amplify stereotypes of female promiscuity as attention-seeking rather than neutral, maintaining cultural ambivalence toward such depictions.^[62] Across global literature and media, the archetype of the promiscuous woman recurs with cultural inflections, such as in analyses of prostitute figures in world cinema, where she symbolizes transgression yet occasionally garners sympathy through redemptive traits, though judgment prevails universally as a marker of eroded integrity.^[63] Non-Western examples, including Bollywood films and Latin American narratives, adapt the trope to local mores, portraying sexual looseness as disruptive to family honor or communal harmony, without fundamentally altering its pejorative core.^[64]

Reclamation Initiatives

The SlutWalk movement originated in Toronto, Canada, on April 3, 2011, following remarks by Toronto Police Constable Michael Sanguinetti at a York University safety forum on January 24, 2011, where he suggested that women could avoid sexual assault by "avoid[ing] dressing like sluts."^[65]^[66] The inaugural event drew thousands of participants who marched to challenge victim-blaming and reclaim the term "slut" as a symbol of empowerment against slut-shaming.^[65] Organizers aimed to end rape culture by demonstrating that clothing choices do not justify assault, with attendees often wearing revealing attire to subvert traditional judgments of promiscuity.^[67] The initiative rapidly expanded transnationally, reaching over 200 cities across 40 countries by 2015, including events in the United States, Europe, and Asia, to protest sexual injustice and promote bodily autonomy.^[68] In the United States, celebrity involvement amplified visibility; model and activist Amber Rose launched the annual Amber Rose SlutWalk in Los Angeles starting in 2015, focusing on gender equality, ending derogatory labeling, and supporting victims of sexual assault through nonprofit efforts.^[69] These events featured speeches, performances, and resource distribution to foster discussions on consent and dismantle stereotypes associating female sexuality with moral failing.^[70] Parallel reclamation efforts appeared in literature, notably with the 1997 publication of The Ethical Slut: A Guide to Infinite Sexual Possibilities by Dossie Easton and Janet W. Hardy, which reframed "slut" positively as a descriptor for individuals embracing consensual non-monogamy and sexual freedom without shame.^[71] The book provided practical advice on polyamory and open relationships, arguing for ethical exploration of multiple sexual partners as a valid lifestyle choice, thereby neutralizing the term's pejorative connotations in the context of alternative relationship structures.^[71] Subsequent editions, including a third in 2017, expanded on these themes to address evolving social dynamics in non-traditional partnerships.^[71]

Controversies and Critiques

Slut-Shaming Debates

Progressive advocates argue that slut-shaming functions as a patriarchal mechanism to control women's sexuality, reinforcing rape culture through victim-blaming and stigmatization of female sexual expression.^[9] This perspective gained prominence with the SlutWalk movement, initiated in Toronto in April 2011 following a police officer's suggestion that women avoid dressing "like sluts" to prevent sexual assault, which protesters framed as excusing perpetrator behavior while policing victims' attire.^[72] Participants in SlutWalk events, including those in New York City in October 2011, carried signs condemning slut-shaming as a tool that perpetuates gender inequality by linking women's clothing or behavior to their vulnerability.^[72] In contrast, traditional viewpoints posit slut-shaming as a natural social response to behaviors perceived as risky, serving to uphold norms that promote familial stability and discourage promiscuity associated with higher rates of unintended consequences such as unplanned pregnancies or STIs.^[4] Proponents of this stance, often drawing from observations of persistent sexual double standards across cultures, contend that such norms evolved to incentivize mate selection strategies favoring commitment and paternity assurance, thereby protecting societal structures like pair-bonding and child-rearing.^[73] Critics of anti-shaming activism argue that dismantling these norms could erode deterrents against behaviors with uneven costs borne by women, potentially destabilizing interpersonal trust and community cohesion.^[4] Empirical studies from 2020 to 2025 document the ongoing prevalence of slut-shaming across domains despite heightened awareness campaigns. A 2021 analysis reported that 50% of adolescent girls experienced slut-shaming, often via social media slurs like "slut" or "whore," highlighting its role in cyber contexts.^[74] Family dynamics perpetuate it through intergenerational transmission of sexual shame, as evidenced in a 2024 qualitative study of women in Quebec and France where parental and sibling judgments reinforced modesty norms from childhood.^[55] Media portrayals, including online harassment, sustain the practice; a 2024 review of social media abuses identified slut-shaming as a recurrent form of gender-based cyberbullying targeting women's perceived sexual activity.^[75] These findings indicate resilience against interventions, with double standards persisting in 2025 surveys of young adults' attitudes toward casual sex.^[76]

Empirical Counterarguments to Reclamation

Empirical evidence indicates that efforts to reclaim pejorative terms like "slut" do not eliminate underlying sexual double standards (SDS), which persist across cultures and measures. A 2020 meta-analysis of 99 studies involving over 100,000 participants found robust evidence for SDS, with men judged more positively for casual sex than women, particularly in explicit evaluations of promiscuity; this endurance holds even in egalitarian societies and after controlling for methodological artifacts.^[4] These patterns align with evolutionary accounts emphasizing sex differences in reproductive costs—women face higher parental investment and paternity uncertainty risks—rendering semantic reclamation insufficient to override biologically informed social judgments.^[77] Longitudinal data from young adults further show SDS conformity in peer evaluations, where individuals align judgments with perceived group norms favoring male promiscuity over female.^[78] High levels of sexual promiscuity, often reframed as empowering through reclamation, correlate with adverse mental health outcomes for women, undermining claims of unmitigated agency. A 2013 longitudinal study of a New Zealand birth cohort (n=1,037) tracked from age 21 to 38 revealed that women with multiple lifetime sex partners exhibited significantly higher rates of substance use disorders, independent of prior mental health or socioeconomic factors; no such strong link appeared for anxiety or depression alone, but the pattern persisted for women more than men.^[79] Complementary research links greater partner counts to elevated depression risk, with Mendelian randomization analyses suggesting causal directions from early/multiple sexual experiences to later depressive symptoms in females.^[40] These associations highlight inherent costs—such as emotional bonding disruptions or STD exposure—that reclamation narratives overlook, as promiscuity does not confer equivalent benefits across sexes due to differential physiological and social repercussions.^[79] Social enforcement via shaming functions as adaptive feedback against female promiscuity, reflecting intra-female competition rather than mere oppression, and remains unaffected by reclamation initiatives. Experimental studies demonstrate that women, more than men, derogate and impose costs on sexually accessible female peers, prioritizing friendship exclusion for those with high partner counts (e.g., 20+ by early 20s) to safeguard relational stability and mate value.^[50] This intrasexual prejudice enforces selectivity, aligning with evidence that promiscuous women face reduced long-term partner interest, as men prioritize cues of fidelity amid evolutionary pressures.^[80] Critiques of movements like SlutWalk note their failure to alter these dynamics, with limited empirical evaluations showing no reduction in objectification or behavioral risks, instead potentially amplifying exposure without mitigating causal consequences of unrestricted sexuality.^[81] Such data prioritize personal agency in navigating verifiable risks over linguistic reframing.

References

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Originating c. 1400 from the Coventry mystery plays, "slut" means a dirty, careless, or untidy woman, possibly implying a lewd or lascivious meaning.
[2]
slut, n. meanings, etymology and more | Oxford English Dictionary
There are nine meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun slut, two of which are labelled obsolete, and one of which is considered offensive.
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On sluts and slatterns | OUPblog
Mar 20, 2019 · At first, both meant “a slovenly woman.” Slut deteriorated, like many other words for “an untidy female,” that is, from “draggletail” to “whore.”
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He is a Stud, She is a Slut! A Meta-Analysis on the Continued ... - NIH
The present analysis focuses on (hetero)sexual double standards (SDS), in which different sexual behaviors are expected of, and valued for, men and women.
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Mar 15, 2022 · Women are often the enforcers of slut-shaming because they have an incentive to protect the sexual marketplace from becoming a price war of easy ...
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From Unclean to Reclaimed: The Curious Journey of the Word 'Slut'
Feb 13, 2020 · However, according to research by sociologists Elizabeth Armstrong and Laura Hamilton, women are as likely to use slurs like 'slut' to enforce ...<|control11|><|separator|>
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Origins of SlutWalk. This movement to raise awareness and protest against rape culture was instigated by comments made by Michael Sanguinetti, a Toronto ...
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Aug 12, 2011 · On April 3, 2011, approximately 3000 women (and men) marched the streets of Toronto in what they dubbed a SlutWalk. Angered by the comments ...
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The mission statement, as found on the SlutWalk Toronto website, details the reasons victims of sexual violence are “tired” and have had more than enough.
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SlutWalk was a local movement in response to a local issue, influenced by the political, cultural, and historical realities of Toronto, Canada in 2011.
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Jun 8, 2011 · Some women argue that SlutWalk is just an expression of what Nina Power has called Feminism™, in which gender equality is rebranded as the right ...
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Etymology dictionary - Ellen G. White Writings
The earliest appearance of the English word is in the Coventry mystery plays (paired alliteratively with slut) amid a volley of insults hurled by scribes ...
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Slattern - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
Also possibly related are Middle Dutch slore "a sluttish woman," Dutch slomp, German Schlampe "a slattern." Slattern.—Slut. The act of paddling in the wet and ...
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Sunday 21 February 1663/64 - The Diary of Samuel Pepys
Our little girl Susan is a most admirable Slut and pleases us mightily, doing more service than both the others and deserves wages better.
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diary entries from January 1668 - The Diary of Samuel Pepys
That she did sit near the players of the Duke's house; among the rest, Mis Davis, who is the most impertinent slut, she says, in the world; and the more ...
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the identification of slurs and swear words in the bronte sisters' novels
Jul 29, 2019 · ... Victorian era, for instance,. highlights Heathcliff's utterances with the use of some. pejorative words (damn, slut, beast). This initial ...
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SLUT Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
slut. noun · ˈslət. plural sluts.<|separator|>
[19]
SLUT Definition & Meaning - Dictionary.com
Disparaging and Offensive., a person, especially a woman, who is sexually promiscuous. · Informal., a person with a seemingly insatiable but often undiscerning ...Missing: core | Show results with:core
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Cultural Suppression of Female Sexuality - Roy F. Baumeister, Jean ...
Four theories about cultural suppression of female sexuality are evaluated. Data are reviewed on cross-cultural differences in power and sex ratios.Two Suppression Theories · Competing Predictions... · Noncompeting Predictions...
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Words like bitch, cunt, harlot, and slut all have neutral origins and convoluted histories that even made some of these words specific to men. However, in ...
[23]
Who punishes promiscuous women? Both women and men are ...
Yet on closer inspection, there is overwhelming evidence that women judge promiscuity harshly among their peers. Consider malicious gossip and slut shaming. A ...
[24]
67 Synonyms & Antonyms for HARLOT | Thesaurus.com
Strong matches. concubine · courtesan · floozy · hooker · hussy · nymphomaniac · slut · streetwalker · strumpet · tramp · whore. Weak matches.<|separator|>
[25]
THE CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY OF HUMAN SEXUALITY
Dec 5, 2024 · Anthropologists have rarely studied the degree to which aging affects sexuality. Kerns's (212) study of Black Belizian women is an exception.
[26]
The history of 'slut' - History News Network
Mar 15, 2012 · ... slut,” Geoffrey Chaucer used a form of the word to ... In his “The Letter of Cupid,” Hoccleve refers to “the foulest slutte in al a town.
[27]
Slut's Pennies: Re-Defining 'Slut' - The Pleasure Parlor
May 9, 2018 · In the 18th century the term “slut's pennies” was used to describe knots of dough in bread. By the 19th century the word was used to refer to a ...
[28]
[PDF] Rea, The Medieval Slut - Wellesley College Digital Repository
A note on vulgarity: “slut,” just like “cunt” and “fuck,” is a shockingly vulgar term and yet vulgarity merits use because. Chaucer was just as vulgar with his ...
[29]
A Historical Dictionary of American Slang - alphaDictionary.com
1920s; betty. ( n ) A man who does a woman's work. Aw, you don't want to ... ( n ) (Offensive) Woman of loose morals, a slut. The street was strewn with ...
[30]
[PDF] Jazz Age slang
quiff: a slut or cheap prostitute. R rag-a-muffin: a dirty or disheveled individual rain pitchforks: a downpour razz: to make fun of. Real McCoy: a genuine ...Missing: early literature
[31]
The Virgin/Whore Binary in World War II Propaganda
Jun 15, 2011 · ... slut to be shamed - and that one isn't exactly even-handed (it's the navy one that states that "a sailor doesn't have to prove that he's a ...
[32]
[PDF] Desire, Literature, and the Law of the Sexual Revolution
Aug 26, 2016 · Dean, who is rumored to be a thief and a slut. Despite Lance's ... During the post WWII era, the marriage rate increased while the divorce rate.
[33]
Examining the Sexual Double Standards and Hypocrisy in Partner ...
Mar 27, 2023 · We found no evidence of traditional sexual double standards for promiscuous or sexually undesirable behavior. ... A Meta-Analysis on the Continued ...
[34]
Examining the Sexual Double Standards and Hypocrisy in Partner ...
We found no evidence of traditional sexual double standards for promiscuous or sexually undesirable behavior. There was some evidence for small sexual double ...
[35]
Estrus, And The Evolution Of 'Mean Girl' Behavior Like Slut Shaming
Jan 29, 2021 · An evolutionary shift in the great ape line may illuminate the roots of some mating- and dating-arena viciousness among modern women.
[36]
Competitive gossip: the impact of domain, resource value, resource ...
Evolutionary approaches to this 'indirect' aggression posit that it functions to increase access to resources and mates by harming competitors' reputations or ...
[37]
Explaining the evolution of gossip - PMC - PubMed Central
Feb 20, 2024 · The current article argues that gossip evolves because its dissemination of individuals' reputations induces individuals to cooperate with those who gossip.Missing: promiscuity | Show results with:promiscuity
[38]
Female competition in chimpanzees - PMC - PubMed Central
Linear female dominance hierarchies based on frequent aggressive or supplant–withdrawal interactions can be discerned in many species of group-living primates, ...
[39]
Jealous females? Female competition and reproductive suppression ...
Sep 5, 2018 · We investigated female competition over paternal care in a wild promiscuous primate, the chacma baboon (Papio ursinus), where pregnant and lactating females ...Missing: provisioning | Show results with:provisioning
[40]
Identifying causal associations between early sexual intercourse or ...
Early sexual intercourse and a greater number of sexual partners have been proved associated with depression. However, the causality of these associations ...
[41]
The Relationship between Multiple Sexual Partners and Mental ...
Aug 6, 2025 · Also, girls with multiple partners may be at increased risk for depression. Prevalence of lifetime sexual partners, sadness, suicide ideation, ...
[42]
The relationship between chronic diseases and number of sexual ...
Women who had 10 or more lifetime sexual partners also had higher odds of reporting a limiting long-standing illness (OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.15 to 2.35). No other ...
[43]
If Orgasms and Love Elude You, Blame Commitment and Oxytocin
Jan 7, 2015 · While we know that love-making stimulates oxytocin, the love hormone, researchers are finding that a committed partner appears to be key to women's sexual ...
[44]
Do Women's Past Sexual Partners Affect Stability? - SoulMatcher
Apr 6, 2025 · The Medical Institute for Sexual Health, for example, reports that casual sex can lead to decreased oxytocin production over time and interfere ...<|separator|>
[45]
Was it Good for You? Gender Differences in Motives and Emotional ...
Feb 11, 2022 · Casual sex, also referred to as a hookup, has been associated with a range of negative emotional outcomes for women, including regret, ...
[46]
Why do women regret casual sex more than men do? - ScienceDirect
Jun 1, 2018 · Results suggest that greater feelings of worry, experiencing disgust, and feeling pressured to have sex predicted more regret for casual sex.Missing: post- | Show results with:post-
[47]
Re-Examining the Link Between Premarital Sex and Divorce - PMC
We find the relationship between premarital sex and divorce is highly significant and robust even when accounting for early-life factors.
[48]
Number 6 in 2023: The Myth of Sexual Experience
Dec 27, 2023 · Specifically, they found that women who wait until they are married to have sex have only a 5% chance of divorce in the first five years of ...Missing: instability | Show results with:instability
[49]
Does a longer sexual resume affect marriage rates? - ScienceDirect
Data from four waves of the National Survey of Family Growth reveal that American women who report more sex partners are less likely to get married by the time ...Missing: instability | Show results with:instability
[50]
Study: Women reject promiscuous female peers as friends
May 30, 2013 · College-aged women judge promiscuous female peers – defined as bedding 20 sexual partners by their early 20s – more negatively than more chaste women.Missing: avoid reputation contagion
[51]
[PDF] Who punishes promiscuous women? Both women and men ...
Who punishes promiscuous women? Both women and men are prejudiced towards sexually-accessible women, but only women inflict costly punishment · Naomi K.
[52]
Sexual partner number and distribution over time affect long-term ...
Jul 31, 2025 · A prospective partner's sexual history provides important information that can be used to minimise mating-related risks.
[53]
New "body count" study reveals how sexual history shapes social ...
Jul 13, 2024 · People with more sexual partners or casual relationship histories are judged less favorably, with men receiving harsher evaluations than ...
[54]
Why We Care About a Partner's Sexual History | Psychology Today
Apr 30, 2024 · Body count may have been a tool for helping our ancestors reduce risk when choosing long-term partners. A rich sexual history might reflect ...
[55]
Exploring Everyday Slutshaming: The Role of Family and the Male ...
Dec 14, 2024 · Moreover, I understand slutshaming as a pervasive phenomenon that extends beyond the “slut” label; it is not merely a categorical experience ...<|separator|>
[56]
Slut-Shaming 2.0 | Request PDF - ResearchGate
This chapter will discuss how these platforms pose additional risks for female adolescents to be slut-shamed. It will be argued that SNS have expanded the ...
[57]
The Role of the "Fallen Woman" in Three Victorian Novels
Jun 22, 2016 · ... promiscuity. Essentially, any deviance from the paragon of ideal Victorian womanhood, the "angel of the house," insinuated that a woman's ...
[58]
dress and the "fallen woman" in the novels of George Eliot
... woman" figure in other Victorian works: they often are or become sexually promiscuous or engage in coquettish behavior and their role is often destructive.I ...
[59]
Fallen Women of Hollywood Melodrama: 1930s-1950s - Lola On Film
Sep 25, 2020 · Fallen were the women who, through circumstance or desire, fell out of the role a patriarchal society deemed to be 'correct' for its women.
[60]
[PDF] The Analysis of Female Characters in the Golden Age of Hollywood
This paper selects films from the Golden Age of Hollywood in the early twentieth century. It analyzes the expression of feminism in images and the status of ...
[61]
Sexual Stereotypes in Popular Music Lyrics, 1960–2008
May 18, 2017 · While men more often include promiscuous language in their pieces, sexually charged lyrics from female artists get more media attention and ...
[62]
[PDF] Sexual Stereotypes in Popular Music Lyrics, 1060-2008
Accordingly, we anticipate that (H3) the number of songs with dating references. From ''I Want To Hold Your Hand'' to ''Promiscuous'': Sexual… 123. Page 5. will ...Missing: glamorization | Show results with:glamorization
[63]
Marked Women: Prostitutes and Prostitution in the Cinema
This engaging and generously illustrated study explores the depiction of female prostitute characters and prostitution in world cinema.
[64]
[PDF] how prostitution is interpreted in cinematographic fiction - Dialnet
This article is a summary of research currently underway into prostitution in the cinema, analysing the figure of the prostitute in more than 200 films, with a ...
[65]
'SlutWalk' marches sparked by Toronto officer's remarks - BBC News
May 8, 2011 · A new protest movement sparked by a policeman's ill-judged advice to women students to "avoid dressing like sluts" has taken root in the US and Canada.Missing: origins | Show results with:origins
[66]
Cop's rape comment sparks wave of 'SlutWalks' - NBC News
May 6, 2011 · The officer who made the comments, Constable Michael Sanguinetti, was disciplined but remains on duty, Toronto police spokesman Mark Pugash said ...Missing: origins | Show results with:origins
[67]
'Slutwalk' Goes Global To Protest Sexual Assault - NPR
Jun 9, 2011 · In April, the first 'SlutWalk' march occurred in Toronto, Canada. The movement has spread across the world, including the U.S. To learn more ...
[68]
Changing the message about rape, one SlutWalk at a time
Jul 21, 2015 · This anti-rape and anti-victim blaming movement has spread to more than 200 cities in 40 countries. It has mobilised tens of thousands of women, men and ...Missing: goals | Show results with:goals
[69]
Amber Rose Is Not Who You Think She Is - The New York Times
Jul 1, 2022 · In 2015, she organized the Amber Rose SlutWalk in Los Angeles, a protest event that aims to raise awareness around gender inequality and which ...
[70]
The second annual Amber Rose SlutWalk shares resources ...
Oct 5, 2016 · Amber Rose hosted her second annual Amber Rose SlutWalk Festival to raise awareness of sexual injustices for all genders in downtown Los Angeles.
[71]
The Ethical Slut, Third Edition by Janet W. Hardy, Dossie Easton
The 20th anniversary edition of The Ethical Slut, has been significantly updated and expanded from its humble debut, including sections to poly pioneers, black ...
[72]
The SlutWalk Movement: A Study in Transnational Feminist Activism
Aug 7, 2025 · ... patriarchal attempts to control women's sexualities through sexual violence and slut-shaming. ... Tackling Rape Culture: Ending Patriarchy.
[73]
Evolutionary ecological insights into the suppression of female ...
We review evidence showing that other individual and ecological factors besides sex facilitate sexual suppression and might better explain its origins.
[74]
Slut Shaming in Adolescence: A Violence against Girls and ... - MDPI
Another study asked the participants how frequently they had been called slut, whore, or similar names in the past six months on SNS while perceiving this as “ ...
[75]
(PDF) Trolling, Cyberstalking, Body-shaming, Slut-shaming A Study ...
This study mainly focused on trolling, cyberstalking, body shaming, and slut shaming on Chinese social media.
[76]
Comparing Gender Differences in Willingness to Accept Same - NIH
Aug 20, 2025 · These findings offer support for the persistence of the sexual double standard and provide evidence for gendered backlash effects, including ...
[77]
Sexual double standard: A gender-based prejudice referring to ...
Oct 11, 2022 · The Sexual Double Standard (SDS) occurs when similar sexual behaviors are evaluated differently depending on whether a man or a woman performs ...
[78]
Thinking as the others do: persistence and conformity of sexual ...
Aug 24, 2020 · In this paper, we inquire about the existence of the double standard in opinions regarding peers' sexual behaviours and study its determinants.
[79]
The Relationship Between Multiple Sex Partners and Anxiety ... - NIH
Engaging in sex with multiple partners was not associated with an increased risk for anxiety or depression at 21, 26, or 32 years, once adjustment was made for ...
[80]
(PDF) Who Punishes Promiscuous Women? Both Women and Men ...
Dec 29, 2018 · Who Punishes Promiscuous Women? Both Women and Men are Prejudiced Towards Sexually-Accessible Women, but Only Women Inflict Costly Punishment.
[81]
[PDF] Empowerment or Stereotypes? A Replication & Extension of the ...
Participants were exposed to vignettes depicting someone shouting. "slut" either in a supportive SlutWalk setting or a typical street setting, with the speaker.