Breaking the Stigma: Women shouldn't be slut shamed for what they wear

Tight tops, short skirts, and jeans that make your legs pop, most women own at least one of these items and, hopefully, feel amazing while wearing them. Whether it’s date night, a night on the town with the girls, or just an attempt to feel fabulous, sometimes it’s nice to wear something a little more daring. But there tends to be a backlash for women when they do dare to wear something seen as ‘inappropriate’ by society.

A study in 2011 found that slut shaming is the most common form of sexual harassment experienced by girls from secondary school age and up. The idea that the length of a school skirt can be distracting and inappropriate is one founded on misogynistic views that a woman must stifle her own sexual expression for the comfort of others. But the biggest culprits for slut-shaming women are often other women.

The internalised misogyny that causes women-on-women slut shaming is one born from the way young girls are talked to. If as a young girl/pre-teen you’re taught that certain clothing defines you as a ‘slut’, you are more likely to project such opinions onto other women in your life. Most internalised misogyny is rooted from female children being sexualised from an alarmingly young age.

It’s a generational cycle that women are constantly stuck in, unless we break it. Acknowledging that clothing doesn’t define a person, or say anything about their character, is the first step to deconstructing this habitual assumption. If we teach our next generation, both boys and girls, that clothing is something that makes you feel good about yourself and doesn’t actually say anything about who you are, we can raise a generation that stops slut shaming.

Edited by Olivia Booth