Prudes versus sluts : An analysis of how attitudes are expressed through colloquial terminology

Abstract: This paper performs a corpus-based critical discourse analysis on the terms“vamp”, “slut”, “prude” and “spinster” and how they are used in context fromthe 1920s to the 2000s. They were categorized according to what attitudeswere connected to them, positive, neutral and negative. An interest was alsotaken in what attributive adjectives were used in context with each term. Theresults showed consistent negative attitudes towards “prude” and “spinster”,while the attitudes towards “Vamp” and “slut” were mixed with negative andpositive.