The word slut means many things to many different people. It can simply mean dirty and untidy or it can mean a woman who is promiscuous and dresses in an improper way. The word slut has a negative connotation that is typically used to degrade women. The word slut is just another word to criticize a woman’s sexuality. This word, along with many others, has helped launch a Feminist Movement that works to promote equality and expose the double standard. When a man has many sexual partners he is a stud, but when a woman engages in sexual activity she is permanently labeled a slut or whore. This double standard exists because when a woman engages in natural sexual activity it is negative, but when a man engages in sexual activity it is celebrated. …show more content…
In fact, the word slut essential means messy or dirty according to its definition from the 14th century Oxford English Dictionary. The earliest known usage of slut comes from the Canterbury Tales and it states, “Why is the lord so sluttish...”. It is obvious that the quote has nothing to do sex, but it is talking about a man's untidy appearance. A slut was a dirty person known to be of a low birth rank. The definition of the world slut as many people know it today was first referenced in 1651 as a “women with low or losse character; a bold impudent girl.” Still, the word is not directly associated with sexual behavior. The word’s meaning as we know today started in the 20th century as a slut became “ a woman of loose morals” (Jones 1). According to Google, the definition of slut is “a woman who has many casual sexual partners.” This word is just one of many that depicts a woman's sexuality in a negative way
When asked to define the word rape, a number of responses may be given depending upon what country or state one lives in and if one is a male or female. According to Pandora’s Project.org, rape is defined as any sexual contact or penetration attained without consent; with physical force, intimidation, threat, trickery, or when the victim is mentally capacitated, physically or mentally impaired, asleep or unconscious; this includes due to voluntary or involuntary alcohol or drug consumption.
The unlawful performing of sexual acts involving body penetration by a person against the will or consent of another living being.
In the book, Slut!—Growing up Female with a Bad Reputation by Leora Tanenbaum, she collects a multitude of testimonies from women who have been subjected to sexual harassment, physical abuse, rape, incest and slut-bashing from all ethnicities and locations around the globe. One astonishing truth approaches you at the beginning of the book. Tanenbaum enters a table that shows the positives and negatives of being a sexually active man and a sexually active woman, unfortunately the truth is absolutely ludicrous. The table states a total of two positives of being a sexually active woman; hot and sexy. On the contrary, it states three negatives for sexually active men, compared to the twenty-eight negatives for sexually active women. This list consists of names from “slut” and “Jezebel” all the way to “prostitute.”
One thing that is common on morals is those regarding to gender, usually men and women have different morals regarding to sex. I believe everyone has their own set of morals, especially regarding to sex because it is such a personal subject. Studies show that men typically have more sexual partners than women. In today 's society, men who have multiple sexual relationships are looked up to or "praised". Women on the other hand, are shamed for having too many sexual partners because society views them as having little to no morals. Men and women tend to lie about their previous relationships in order to protect their current ones. Men including myself have a tendency to over exaggerate these numbers while women under exaggerate. Many double standards come into play regarding this topic because many of these standards are mostly sided with men making them seem unfair to some women.
Sexual double standard is when there is more sexual freedom for men than women in the world. Summary of example: Legal experts, meanwhile, are beginning to speak out about a double standard regarding how courts treat male versus female statutory rapists. Men fall into the usual stereotype of somehow believing a teenage male student probably enjoyed a sexual relationship with his adult teacher. Male teachers are always labeled as predators by the public. Female teachers are often mischaracterized as immature, confused or even vulnerable- even though they are just as predatory in their selection and grooming behavior to seduce that child. When it comes down to equality between the sexes it will never be even. The example is relevant to this topic
Since the dawn of man, sex has played a crucial role in society. Before they learned to read or write humans were engaging in sex and without it none of us would be here. In today’s society, sex has grown to become much more complicated. If I were to ask a group of people on the street what they believed sex was? I bet they would have a hard time answering. The question puzzling society today is how do we define sex? Can we define sex? These are questions raised in Tracy Steele’s article “Doing it: The Social Construction of S-E-X”. This article is about the current questions and issues that have been raised about sex within today’s society. In this paper I will summarize the key points of the article, while sharing my own thoughts and
The theory being tested in the article is that women participate in slut shaming as a way for them to distance or separate themselves from other women. The reason they separate themselves is a way for women to categorize other women into different statuses and a way for themselves to maintain their own status. The status classes women are categorized in are linked to the social class they are a part of. Slut shaming among women is not necessarily based on their sexual acts, but of the way they act as a woman. The theory also states that slut shaming is also a result of male dominance and female submission. The slut label was created by men due to a double standard created by society. The double standard is that men are expected to act upon their sexual desires regardless of being in a relationship or having any emotional connection with the person they’re engaging that sexual act with all while women are only allowed to participate in sexual activities if they are in a loving and committed relationship. However, if
I have found the perfect definition of sex from Greta Christina’s paper “Are We Having Sex Now or What?” and that is, “Maybe if both of you (or all of you) think of it as sex, then it’s sex whether you’re having fun or not.” I find this definition as sex because it clearly tells the audience that sex is sex if you thought of it as sex. For example, when opposite or same sex have a sexual activity or intercourse with each other whether you like it or not, it is sex. However, this definition can be unsatisfactory to others because there can be cases when people may not want to count it as sex, such as getting sexually assaulted by someone. In this case, the person who got sexually assaulted would not want to count it as sex and avoid the truth, but for the person who made a sexual assault to someone, that person would count it as sex. It may be hard for those people who gets sexually assaulted, but that is the reality and the truth that he/she had sex with someone. Therefore, even though this definition may be broad and unsatisfactory to some people, it will narrow down and clearly prove that you had sex if you think you had sex.
In today’s society, it seems that there has been an increase in the word slut. Girls are depicted as either good girls or prudes that “save themselves till marriage” or bad girls or sluts who are very sexual and promiscuous. They are either labeled as prude or sluts, which are both derogatory terms. We have begun to take away the idea of someone being a victim, and this idea of victim blaming stops. Films have helped embed this within our culture. In horror movies women, are killed for having sex; in comedies, women are called sluts and whores for being too flirty. This has caused society to believe it is okay to call women sluts. Slut shaming in movies turns high schoolers into bullies and college men into perverts. This causes negative effects on all women. This also creates a rape culture that we have been hearing about in the news, dealing with main actors/actresses, movie producers, politicians. Women are not allowed to be sexual human being, so that’s when they are labeled as sluts and men use that idea of them being a slut as their chance to rape a women and victim blame the women for being sexual.
What is even stranger is that women fully enforce this sexual double standard. Over 99% of woman agree that women enjoy sex as much as men do, yet when asked to describe a woman who has had many sexual partners, over 59% percent of women used words that fell under the negatively connotative ‘Promiscuous’ category, using words like “slut,” “cheap,” “loose,” “whore,” “easy,” and “dirty.” Twelve percent of women even used words that would suggest that sexually liberal woman are psychologically damaged, using words like “insecure,” “lonely,” “desperate,” “needy,” and ‘unfulfilled.” Only 8% of women tagged a sexually liberal woman in the more positive category of “sexually focused,” the respondents feeling that “these women were uncommitted and focused on sex rather than the relationship” (Milhausen and Herold). In addition, “Women were more likely to discourage a female friend from dating a highly experienced male that a male friend from dating a highly experienced female” (Milhausen and Herold). This fact furthers the case for women’s involvement in maintaining the double standard. In a one study researchers found that “Women will endorse a sexual double standard in which women are judged more
Gender roles are social constructs that defines what sort of behaviors are acceptable for men or women. These rigid expectations teach people through socialization that we should think, speak, dress, and be a certain way depending on which gender we are. When we are young we learn the behaviors that are socially appropriate for males and females; these behaviors are often based on gender stereotypes. For example, women are expected to love shopping and take care of domestic duties like cleaning the house, while men are expected to love sports and to work outside the home in an industry like construction or engineering. While men and women do have distinct differences that can 't always be chalked up to social imposition, these ideas of what it means to be male or female can be very harmful to people 's identity. People are often judged and scrutinized for failing to fit into the box society creates for them based on their gender. There are quite a few double standards that exist regarding gender. It is unfair to judge people more harshly for something based solely on their gender, and one common example of this is sexual behavior. Women are judged harshly for the same sexual behavior that men are praised for. This sexual double standard can have devastating effects on women who get labeled as “sluts.” Men who are thought to have a higher number of sexual partners or be more sexually
Women who attempt to or do initiate sexual contact are often labelled in derogatory terms, or are labelled in these terms if their actions or opinions do not meet the social conditioning that is befitted females.
Women constantly face a double standard when it comes to sexuality, it's been this way for years. In fact in the Victorian era there is a huge double standard where women seemed to be on interested in sex and we're to have a high standard of sexual behavior unlike the men in that time who had powerful sexual drives and it was almost the social norm for them to have multiple sexual partners. Even today there still a double standard, it has gotten better with feminism any quality but men are still seen as superior when they have multiple sexual partners unlike women who are looked at as sluts and whores because they have multiple sexual partners. Trying to use the slut shaming, which is where women are downgraded by both men and women because
Statutory rape describes sexual activity where one participating party is below the age of consent to engage in the sexual conduct. The term usually refers to adults engaging in sexual activities with minors under the age of consent; however, only a handful of jurisdictions recognize the actual words "statutory rape" in its legal code. Statutory rape differs from forcible rape because imposed force or threat is not present during the sexual acts. However, the laws presume that adult coerced the minor into having sex because a minor or mentally challenged are unsuitable to make their own decisions, according to the courts. Statutory rape differs from "child molestation," which is typically treated as a far more severe crime.
Sex is not a dirty word as some may define it, but a pleasurable experience. Women must learn to embrace their sexuality and enjoy it. They should embark on a journey by touching themselves to find out what is pleasurable, and then teach their partners how they want to be touched. A person’s religion or spirituality plays an important part on how they view sex. Abstinence before marriage is the religion world view on sex. Sex outside of marriage is labeled as sin, and called fornication according