Women Call Other Women ‘Sluts’ to Guard Their Social Standing: Study

Bullying and peer victimization are common aspects of student life that can have lasting effects on the mental health and self esteem of individuals. Misogynistic statements and verbal harassments like "slut and whore" lead to disdain from peers and friends. Such behavior is  known as "slut-shaming". In a recent research, psychologists found that young women of high status resort to such rowdy conduct towards middle or lower class girls in order to maintain their popularity and social image.

The experts from the University of Michigan and University of California observed attitudes and behavior of college girls studying in a renowned public institute. About 53 students living in a dormitory were interviewed for five years to note their social life and bullying experiences. The study also examined the way girl students used sexualized terms to describe other girls. It was found that terms like "slut" and "whore" were used  to target victims very often, reports the Atlantic.

The terms were used distinctively by the two income groups. Girls from privileged backgrounds used the words to denigrate the others as trashy and with lose morals and the under privileged group used the same terms to denote high-handedness and 'stuck up.'

"Wealthy women are making a distinction between being classy and trashy, whereas women with less money are equating stuck up and exclusive and not nice to being slutty. This stuff is pretty toxic. It's not just the boys who are doing it," Armstrong said, reports the USA News.

Girls of low socio-economic backgrounds reported being frequently bullied and called names by their rich counterparts. These words were employed recurrently for accusations, teasing or degrading without considering how damaging it could be in the long run.

"If you want to make a young woman feel bad, pulling out the term 'slut' is a sure fire way to do it," said Elizabeth Armstrong, study author and sociology professor at the University of Michigan.

It was further noticed that a few girls from disadvantaged backgrounds also mimicked abusive behavior of "mean girls "and bullies to gain acceptance and fit in. "It's 'she isn't one of us, we don't like her and she's different," said one of the respondents during the study.

Armstrong describes 'slut shaming' as a catchall phrase with no precise meaning clear to anyone. This behavior is majorly seen in girls. "With the girls participating in it to, it does make it harder to eradicate," said Armstrong

More information is published in the Social Psychology Quarterly.