'Slut Shaming' - Call Me A Slut!

Now, I'm just going to blurt it out: I recognise myself as a feminist. Not so controversial, right? 

However, a phrase that has been thrown around the internet quite a lot recently is 'slut shaming' (click for a definition of some kind). 
I spend (quite a lot of) time on Tumblr and this little alliterated coupling has been popping up all over the shop; it took me a while to fully get my head around the concept, and by no means am I calling myself well-read on the topic, quite the opposite in fact. 


What I understand by 'slut shaming' (calling girls sluts/slags/any other negative term regarding their sexual behaviour) is that it further serves to highlight the hypocrisy of society (in my opinion, anyway), and simply put: a female's  sexual activities are no more my business, than it is anybody else's, and therefore, we have no right to comment on it. It does not matter if a girl has slept with 1 man, 5, or 100. It is none of our business. 
Sure, personally I find a girl my age (20) sleeping with many different people (I know of people who have slept with 50+) slightly unsavoury, and not what I would personally do, but it doesn't make me think any less of them as a person. 

If sexual behaviour is healthy and safe, and not hurting a third party, we have no right to an opinion. A woman is not a 'slut' if she chooses to sleep around; in the same way that woman is not 'asking' to be raped by wearing a revealing outfit. The integral part to me here is choice. We all have a choice, and should not judge people on their free choices. 

Click here for an excellently worded post about slut-shaming and gender politics (not as dull as it sounds, I promise) It's a very entertaining read.


You must have been living under a rock in the recent months if you haven't heard of Kristen Stewart cheating on Robert Pattinson; I know this example has been done to death, but it is the most recent 'scandal' in the media, so there we go. Kristen Stewart chose to have an affair (the length of which has been much disputed, I believe) with a married man, Rupert Sanders, a choice that, of course, is wrong. However, it is only Kristen's career that has been affected. She has dropped out of numerous film projects that she was involved in. Now, I am not saying that infidelity (of any kind) is acceptable. In my humble opinion, cheating is completely unacceptable, I take an extremely black and white few on it: if you feel the need to cheat you cannot be truly happy in your relationship. I may be wrong, but that is my view. 

There are men who cheat whose careers have not suffered. Take Rupert Sanders - his career, as far as I am aware, hasn't suffered one bit; he is even back with his wife! 
There are also Premiership footballers who have cheated numerous times (lookin' at you Ashley Cole, John Terry- who is a despicable human being in general imo, Wayne Rooney) and their careers are still going strong. 
I was talking about this with my boyfriend and he rightly said 'but their personal lives shouldn't affect their careers. They are good footballers at the end of the day'. 

If that is the case for Premiership footballers, then why do successful women in the public eye suffer a lot more? You can judge Kristen's acting, but there is no denying she is successful. 

I think that 'slut-shaming' has become a slightly over-used term, but there are certainly points to ponder over.

What do you think? I for one am still a bit overwhelmed by its sudden surge on the internet, it can appear extremely defensive, but it is definitely interesting.

Thanks for reading x

image not mine - from The Sun (via Google)