Sex, Dating and the Sisterhood: A 23-year-old reveals what her generation really thinks about sex

"Slut-shaming"

Noun

1. The action or fact of stigmatising a woman for engaging in behaviour judged to be promiscuous or sexually provocative.
2. An out of date term we can truly get rid of

Promiscuity — and let's be real, female promiscuity — has long been the source of debate in popular culture and society in general.

When it comes to understanding the ways we perceive casual sex, and the different ways men and women are traditionally viewed, host Shelly Horton puts it simply: "We have our sluts and our studs."

While we make think times have changed — Amber Rose's 'Slut Walk' saw thousands of individuals unite to combat old school ideas surrounding female sexuality — this notion that women should be 'virtuous' lingers in visible spaces.

"Look no further than Australian reality TV if we want to see double standards in female and male promiscuity," Bianka Farmakis tells Shelly Horton during 9Honey's Sex, Dating and The Sisterhood.

From Jess's cheating scandal in Married At First Sight to Eden Dally's shaming of Millie for having multiple relationships in the Love Island villa, shaming is visceral in heterosexual relationships.

And the stats don't lie.

Dr Nicola Henry, a sexual violence and law reform researcher at RMIT, told the Sydney Morning Herald the reason making allegations about a woman's sexual activity is such an effective "tool of degradation and abuse" is because "unwritten rules and expectations about how men and women should behave sexually" persist, even now.

"For men, there is value attached to them having multiple sexual partners, it's a badge of honour for many men. But for women, there is value attached to being virginal, pure and submissive."

However, where heterosexual people have the tendency to fall into these negative stereotypes, the queer community seems to avoid them.

RELATED: Sex, Dating and the Sisterhood: 'Is cheating 'letting down the sisterhood?'

Shelly Horton reveals after a conversation with her "closest gay", she learned "they just don't have that shame associated with sleeping around."

"It's probably something we could learn from them," she adds.

Cue the rise of sex positivity, a movement aiming to develop healthy attitudes towards sex and valuing it, given your individual needs. 

"The amount of people you may choose to sleep with [consensually] is not the issue," Farmakis adds.

"It's having a really healthy, open conversations about sex and consent, knowing boundaries and knowing how you want to conduct yourself sexually.

"At the end of the day checking in with your partner is the main thing people should be worried about"

Watch the video at the top of the page to find out more about our shifting attitudes towards casual sex and the importance of sex positivity.