Double standard of women and men regarding sexual promiscuity
Kahlil Haywood
So, Paul has about 14 under his belt, and James has about 10. Jessica has five, but these five came in the span of roughly six months. I guess, you can take this as your cliché example, but off what, you ask? Body counts. From what you just read, who do you think really gets labeled negatively first? In this phallic ruled society, a lot of judgment is placed on how many sexual partners a woman has and the amount of time in which she acquired them. From a woman’s perspective, it can be frustrating that men aren’t held to the same standards as women are. I always think that there’s a great dialogue that comes from this topic. The differences in opinion are vast, and these conversations are fueled by passions, which have been fueled by years of upbringing and morals, or lack thereof.
This topic really pushes the envelope; it’s an ongoing debate in which ultimately, I think women are looking for what they see as a “fair shake,” for the most part. Many of our ideals seem to disadvantage women in our society. To be a little more technical, the plain discourses we use to describe promiscuity within our genders are vastly different. When you look at it, there are way more negative words to describe promiscuous women than there are to describe their male counterparts. I’ve asked many people to use a derogatory term to describe a man, and I hear words such as “dog,” “man-whore,” “ jerk,” and “dirt bag.” These words don’t really have the sting of the many words there are to describe women, such as “smut,” “pop,” “hoe,” “slut”. We can surely go on, but I think you all have the idea.
Many people claim that they aren’t judgmental, but when you begin to speak about stereotyping and a perception, that is exactly what you are doing: judging. I always feel that it pays to stay true to yourself. What is meant by that is, to be honest, we all do judge. We should all make conscious efforts to not be judgmental, and that is all you can really ask. I asked some students from Post about how they felt about body counts and how it effected their perceptions. Here’s what was said:
“For women, it’s quality over quantity, and for men, it’s quantity over quality” says junior Carlos Clemente. He went on to say that “this is the thought process of most men and women ideally.” Junior Katrina Clayton weighed in on the issue as well, saying, “If a guy has a high number of “bodies” he’s labeled as a BOSS, but if a female has that same high number, she’s labeled as a hoe – which guys who have a ridiculously high number should be labeled as well.” She goes onto say that “some girls are hoes, indeed, but it’s just the fact that guys get praise for doing the same things that ‘hoes’ do.” Matthew Waters, on one hand, says that “no one deserves to be labeled, but the double standard definitely exists, especially with the male ,’badge of honor philosophy.’ “I feel like it’s bull and a meaningless double standard,” responded a female, who would rather be left anonymous.
It’s safe to say that many of us live under the precedent set by an earlier generation. There are some ideals people wish to contest, and they are successful at doing so, but when you deal with issues of judgment, it’s a whole different ball game. The world has thought in this one dimension for so long, functioning on these double standard philosophies, and we’re all guilty of it to some degree. Circumstances shape these opinions, and you can’t really judge until you know the whole story.
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