Exploring Everyday Slutshaming

The Role of Family and the Male Gaze in Reproducing Women’s Sexual Shame

Bibliographic Data

ID12465693
AuthorsÉlisabeth Mercier (0000-0001-5953-2595, Université Laval, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume29
Issue2
Pages864-882
Publication date2024-12-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSexuality & Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1095-5143 • E-ISSN: 1936-4822
PublisherSpringer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1007/s12119-024-10303-2
OpenAlexW4405398883
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited43

This article explores everyday forms of slutshaming in the lives of women and girls living primarily in Quebec (Canada) and France. Through a series of semi-directed interviews with 18 participants and a review of public testimonials ( n = 12) and academic literature ( n = 67) about slutshaming, this analysis shows how sexual shame is first instilled within the family, particularly by mothers seeking to protect daughters against potential future sexual violence. The male gaze is also a key element in the daily reproduction of slutshaming, specifically as it internalizes feelings of body shame and “hypervisibility” in public spaces. This analysis also highlights the fact that although they may appear ordinary or even inoffensive, even the most subtle and internalized forms of slutshaming have many consequences in the lives of women and girls: reduced autonomy, low self-esteem, humiliation, discomfort, and hypervigilance. Ultimately, women’s sexual shame and efforts deployed to reproduce, teach, or instill it at the micro level reinforce a gendered social order in which cisgender, heterosexual men enjoy greater sexual liberty

Autonomy · Developmental psychology · Feeling · Gaze · Humiliation · Political science · Psychoanalysis · Shame · Sociology · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Psychology · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology · Social Psychology

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Open DOIOpen Access