Study shows women are still trying to slut-shame each other

In 2013—the age of SnapChat, Skype sex, d*** pics,  and good, old fashioned sexting—you'd think that we'd have reached a point where we'd be able to judge people on the content of their character and not the number of sexual partners they've had. But, sadly, that's not the case because, according to a new study out of Cornell University, evolution and a sharp social stigma still have women slut-shaming every Runaround Sue on their dorm floor.

For the study, 751 college students provided information about their past sexual experience and their views on casual sex. They read a near-identical vignette about a male or female peer, with the only difference being the character's number of lifetime sexual partners (two or 20). Researchers asked them to rate the person on a range of friendship factors, including warmth, competence, morality, emotional stability and overall likability. [Science Daily]

And that's when the slut-shaming started.

Across all female participants, women — regardless of their own promiscuity — viewed sexually permissive women more negatively on nine of ten friendship attributes, judging them more favorably only on their outgoingness.

While this outcome was expected because promiscuous people present an evolutionary threat (they're more likely to cheat and/or "poach" someone else's main squeeze), the results of the study present a fallacy because the sexually promiscuous women didn't report feeling more isolated than their conservative peers. Lead researcher Zhana Vrangalova explained to Salon:

I analyzed that data a few weeks ago and more promiscuous women (and men) do not appear to be any more isolated or lonely, which is really interesting and requires further research into why and how they manage to maintain friendships and sense of connectedness despite being rejected from females as friends and from men as long-term partners (which other studies have showed).

Basically, everyone gets along just fine, but people don't want to admit that they're satisfied keeping company with the Samanthas of the world. [Salon]