In today’s society, certain rules and principles have been unfairly placed on different groups of people. We call these double standards (Salazar, 2018, para 2). They have shaped our society’s ideas on what is acceptable and what is not as well as created the expectations we have on certain people simply based on the group they belong to. Double standards can have numerous negative effects on society as numerous people end up accepting them even though they can be harmful to a group of people (Salazar, 2018, para 3). One of the most common types of double standards we encounter in today’s society is based on gender and sexuality. These standards have existed for a long time and it is now that people are trying to no longer follow them (Jasmine, 2015, para 1). There has been a lot of debate around the topic of double standards, some people wondering which sex had it rougher. Others wondered if moving forward our society will be able to drop these double standards or if they are too fundamental to the survival of the society as they are built into the core of it (Jasmine, 2015, para 1).
Sexual conduct for men and women are perceived very differently, which is a great example of double standards. In fact, men are praised and rewarded for having sex with a female. As opposed to women who are shamed and stigmatized for having sex with a male. Also, women who have many sexual partners are shamed and stigmatized, whereas men who have many sexual partners are praised (Kreager & Staff, 2009, para 1). Men will be seen as champions and women as sluts for having the same sexual behavior (Lakrits, 2019, para 6). Women still do not have equal pay for equal work, which is a big problem and a double standard saying that men are better workers than women (Lakrits, 2019, para 3). In the workplace, women are treated very differently than men. Women will often be perceived as a secretary of some sort. Assertive women will be considered as being “bossy” and “mean”, whereas if a man is being assertive, he will not be considered as such (Lakrits, 2019, para 8). For parenting, fathers will often be praised for being a good dad and taking care of their kids. On the other hand, women will receive the same amount of praise as they are expected to take care of their kids by society. In fact, a 1998 study, showed that fathers received more praised than mothers for parenting (Lakrits, 2019, para 16). Unfortunately, there are multiple more double standards on women that can lead them to be perceived negatively and to be treated unequally compared to men.
There are also double standards of men that affect both men and women. Women that want to cuddle are perceived as affectionate because they are often stereotyped as delicate and sweet individuals. However, if men want to cuddle, they will be perceived as needy as they are stereotyped as being strong and unemotional (Greene, 2015, para 6). A married woman without a job will be considered as a caretaker and a homemaker, whereas a man without a job will be considered as a failure because he is not “providing” for his family financially, which is what he is expected to do stereotypically by the society (Greene, 2015, para 7). A male who cries will be perceived as being weak and fragile. As opposed to a woman that cries. She will be perceived as being sad and close to her feelings (Greene, 2015, para 11). Many other double standards on men negatively affect both men and women.
In conclusion, these gender and sexuality double standards are based on stereotypes and expectations that society has on sex.
References
Greene, M. (2015, May 18). 7 Double Standards that Hurt Men (and Women). The Good Men Project. Retrieved from https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/7-double-standards-megasahd/
Jasmine, S. (2015, December 14). Gender Double Standards The College Perspective. odyssey. Retrieved from https://www.theodysseyonline.com/gender-double-standards
Kreager, D. A., & Staff, J. (2009). THE SEXUAL DOUBLE STANDARD AND ADOLESCENT PEER ACCEPTANCE. Social psychology quarterly, 72(2), 143–164. doi:10.1177/019027250907200205
Lakritz, T. (2019, January 18). 11 surprising double standards that still exist for women in the US. INSIDER. Retrieved from https://www.insider.com/women-double-standards-sexism-2018-10
Salazar, D. (2018, May 21). Double Standards Are Plaguing Our Society What and how are double standards hurting our society?. odyssey. Retrieved from https://www.theodysseyonline.com/double-standards-plaguing-society
Written by William Romero-Muskus
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