Slut Shamers Anonymous

I have often noted on this blog that women are far more likely to slut-shame than are men. New research demonstrates the point. While both men and women find sexually available women to be untrustworthy, women are more likely to punish other women for looking slutty.

Eric Dolan reports on the study, from the journal Evolution and Human Behavior. 

Nevertheless, the findings suggest that both sexes perpetuate prejudiced behaviors towards sexually-accessible women but for different reasons. The researchers believe that men seek to avoid being duped into investing in a child that isn’t their own, while women seek to keep the cost of sex high or wish to sabotage potential sexual rivals.

“More broadly, our results find that sexual suppression cannot be described as being either male- or female-driven, and that more nuanced models are needed to understand society’s propensity to suppress female sexuality,” the researchers said.

As you can see, the researchers believe that they are striking a blow against sexism. We would note that the issue is public display of sexual availability. It is not about who enjoys sex more.

The researchers interpret the data thusly. They follow Darwin in arguing that men do not want to marry sexually available women because they do not want to be duped into supporting a child who is not their own.

They add that women who respect themselves do not want to associate with women who might entice their men to cheat. They want to undermine potential rivals by excluding them from their social circles. 

We should also add that women who advertise their sexual available are generally as not respecting themselves. Here I would offer an alternative interpretation. If women want to be respected, and thus more likely to be selected for long term commitments, ones that are based on mutual trust, they are unlikely to want to associate with women who advertise their availability. And thus, who cheapen something they hold to be of value.

They reject women they consider to be slutty because they do not want to be considered within the same category. Wanting to be respected as women they reject association with women whose behavior contributes to an environment where women are disrespected.

When women do not command respect, they are often mistreated. Men assume that they are more available and take more liberties with them. 

That means, as Heather Mac Donald once argued, that whereas the default for young women used to be No, unless otherwise indicated, the new default is Yes, even when otherwise indicated.

But, liberated women are now encouraged to display their sexuality more openly on the public square. Thus, they contribute to a cultural climate where all women are presumed to be available. Normally, respectable women would reject those who show themselves to be too available, by slut shaming.

But now, women are told not to slut shame. This means, they should acquiesce to this condition, thus ensuring that the reputation of all women be dragged down to the level of women who designate themselves publicly as sexually available.