.png)
Society states that the world is making significant progress in shattering gender stereotypes. However, any woman can beg to differ when unequal notions about romantic and sexual interactions still exist between the two genders. In heterosexual relationships, the sexual double standard is more negative towards women than men, even though they exhibit the same sexual behaviors.
Heterosexual Men Compared To Heterosexual Women
Women are thought to be gate-keepers of their own sexuality (Seabrook et al., 2016), which is the cause of society stigmatizing highly-sexual women. A study published in Social Psychology Quarterly discovered that greater numbers of sexual partners are positively correlated with peer acceptance among teenage boys, but is negatively correlated with peer acceptance among teenage girls. This mindset of acceptance transfers into adulthood and continuously favors highly sexually active heterosexual men compared to women. Sexual double standards are also associated with domestic violence and inadequate healthcare-related issues such as sexual victimization, sexual assaults, victim-blaming, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and lower sexual satisfaction; queuing the Me Too Movement and cultivating the conversation for sexual liberation.
How The Me Too Movement Plays A Role
The Me Too Movement serves as a survivor's platform to examine the disproportionate social and economic impacts of sexual violence that can potentially lead to homelessness, food insecurity, and unemployment, especially in communities of color. The movement itself has shifted the conversation of sex and challenges the concept of a happy sex life with the conclusion that sex is not a one size fits all situation. What works for you may not work for other individuals. However, it's easy for mass media and electronic games to encourage sexism among young people by reinforcing the image of men with high numbers of sexual partners.
Psychological Studies
Further macro-psychological approaches need to be of consideration while observing the sexual double standard phenomenon and assessing a deeper understanding of how heterosexual young girls and boys respond to sexual statements. The same process will be implemented for adult heterosexual men and heterosexual women by using a polygraph test. The data between the two groups will then be compared and used for the conclusion(s). The statements can be as simple as, "sex is good," and gradually become more explicit. Another example would be,“I think sex is less important for girls than for boys". In addition, researchers need to gather insight on the participant’s environment, such as school, work, home, and extracurricular activities, to understand their influences and society's endorsements of double standards.
Inevitably, the standardized results between the divided age groups of heterosexuals should be compared and labeled as a personal endorsement or societal endorsement. If an individual scores personal endorsement, their independent mindset drives them. If an individual scores societal endorsement, the respondent refers to society to make judgments. These behaviors can also evaluate how progressive or conservative an individual considers themselves to be. Especially when measuring sexual performance, an individual's behavior can trigger Sexual Performance Anxiety, and compare their sex drive to another person’s. Regardless of an individual's final thoughts, sexual double standards constructs must be repelled to bridge the divide.
Sources:
Gómez Berrocal, María del Carmen, et al. “Sexual Double Standard: A Psychometric Study From a Macropsychological Perspective Among the Spanish Heterosexual Population.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 29 July 2019, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01869/full#B58.
Kreager, Derek A, and Jeremy Staff. “THE SEXUAL DOUBLE STANDARD AND ADOLESCENT PEER ACCEPTANCE.” Social Psychology Quarterly, U.S. National Library of Medicine, June 2009, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4256532/.
“Simulations of the Androgynous Society.” Translated by George Eliot’s, Pepperdine, digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1285&=&context=scursas&=&sei-redir=1&referer=https%253A%252F%252Fscholar.google.com%252Fscholar%253Fq%253Dshattering%252Bgender%252Bstereotypes%2526hl%253Den%2526as_sdt%253D0%2526as_vis%253D1%2526oi%253Dscholart#search=%22shattering%20gender%20stereotypes%22.
Comments