Double Standards are Alive and Well

Boys will be boys is a common phrase. But I have never heard girls will be girls. The suffrage movement of the early 1900’s and the women’s rights, alongside the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s and it’s revival in the 1980’s are commonly believed to be dead. But feminism is still alive and well today, still fighting tooth and nail for equality between the sexes. No, feminists are not bra burning, men hating women with unshaven bodies; that, my dear readers, is called a stereotype. It is true, as with all stereotypes, there are some bra burning, men hating women who don’t shave, but that does not mean it is true of all feminists. Because, here’s a juicy little secret, if you believe in or support equality between men and women, you are in fact a feminist. Simple as that. Despite the advance and great strides women’s rights movements and organizations have achieved, there are still many double standards between the sexs. Of course, the biggest double standard is in the department of sexuality. However, pay gaps and the glass ceiling still exist and most insurance companies pay for erectile dysfunction medication but not for the majority of reproductive or contraceptive medication available.

 

Sex. It’s often a taboo in American society. Especially if you are a woman, unless that is, when it comes to advertising. Another common phrase is sex sells. Yes, you do see a few men in ads wearing nothing but boxers with an undeniable bulge. But this is much rarer than a woman in her underwear or sexily clad, showing off a new product or rolling around on a beach eating a sandwich larger than her mouth.. Of course, the media with its high standards and equal representation of every body type, these women look like the models of Victoria’s Secret.

 

When it comes to sex and women, women just can’t win. If a woman likes sex and has a lot of sex, she is seen as a whore or a slut. Yet men who like sex and have a lot of sex are placed on a pedestal and seen as a stud. But if a woman doesn’t like or want sex she is considered frigid. Men are encouraged to lose their virginity as soon as possible, while women are supposed to be “pure” and hold on to their virginity for as long as possible. Often, women are shunned into silence about their sexual lives, their body and what they do with it in bed is a huge taboo.

 

With age difference, women can’t win either. If a woman is with a man that is younger than her, she is a “cougar”, while this isn’t exactly an insult, there are certain connotations with the term that puts it in a negative light. On the other hand, if a woman is with a man that is older, especially as the age difference increases, she is a gold digger.

 

Boys will be boys is an excuse for boys and men alike. The phrase has never been used in order to justify the actions and thoughts of women. Recently the boys will be boys excuse was used in the Steubenville, Ohio rape case. Due to the fact that high school boys were members of a beloved football team, they were held to a different standard and protected by the community after gang raping and assaulting an intoxicated teenage girl.

 

There is a saying that has recently been appearing on feminist websites and blogs to bring attention to the double standards between men and women. The best thing a woman can ever be is a woman; the worst thing a man can ever be called is a woman.

 

What we need to do is to teach our boys and girls that women and men are equal and should be treated as such. We need them to understand that having a certain body part doesn’t make you any less or any greater of a person. We need to teach our boys and men not to rape instead of teach our girls and women not to get raped. Feminism is not a dirty word. Everyone should be a feminist. To the men who say they are not a feminist, explain to your mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, and every woman in your life why you do not support equal rights for them. And to the women who say they are not feminist, do you not like equal pay, or the right to vote, or hold property, or not be treated as property? Because if a woman says she is not a feminist, that is exactly what she is saying.

 

Just like racism, there will never be no sexism, but we can take steps to become closer to an equal sex world. Banishing and abolishing double standards that are still prevalent in today’s society would be a large step in the right direction.