For the past century, American society has significantly advanced in the issues of racial and gender equality. The feminist and political movements have had a profound impact on how society perceives various social constructs. Nevertheless, there is still a large amount of prejudice concerning the gender gap and sexual orientations. For instance, the attitude of “double standard” is still highly prevailing in society and clearly distinguishes the intimate behaviors of men and women. The current essay attempts to analyze the concept of “double standard” concerning sexual relationships and provide a specific example of this attitude.
Historically, the intimate behaviors of men and women have been associated with activeness and passiveness respectively and paved the way for traditional households. Naturally, this nature of sexual behavior does not represent all males and females which results in heavy stigmatization and stereotyping. For instance, sexual activeness is frequently praised in and by men, while such behavior is shamed when practiced by a woman (Andersen, 2014). On the other hand, the lack of sexual connections and virginity are considered to be excellent qualities for females while men might be stigmatized (Andersen, 2014). This perspective on intimate relationships has been weakened after the sexual revolution; nevertheless, this attitude still persists in the minds of a large number of people. For instance, Angela Lansbury has placed the blame on women in cases of sexual harassment for being too attractive (Simonson, 2017). Naturally, if a man tries to be as handsome as possible, he would not be blamed for that in case of potential sexual harassment. Therefore, it is an example of a “double-standard” and transparently demonstrates the gender gap.
Summing up, the current paper has examined the concept of “double standard” in sexual relationships and demonstrated how the perception of men and women concerning intimacy has changed over time. Nevertheless, despite the advances in this field, the aforementioned example shows that stigmatization and consequent victim-blaming still prevails in the minds of certain individuals. Therefore, it is essential to educate people on the subject and strive for a more equal society.
References
Andersen, M. (2014). Thinking About Women: Sociological Perspectives on Sex and Gender (10th Edition). Pearson.
Simonson, J. (2017). Oscar-winning actress blames women for sexual harassment. Web.