A young man has been concurrently managing relationships with a number of attractive women. Peers and outsiders observing his behavior may possibly label him as “promiscuous yet he will still undoubtedly receive the notorious yet victorious declaration as a ladies’ man.” Meanwhile if a young woman also takes part in dating numerous men at the same time or even at different times very rarely will she be commended for her behavior— rather she will more likely be labeled as “easy” or likened to a whore in one aspect or another.
Double standards and stereotypes seem to still function in our society beyond what we may notice. Men are still congratulated when having numerous relations with women while women are looked down upon if having a “track record.”
It is no coincidence that the list of insults to degrade women for their sexual behavior is much longer than the list of insults for men. Women are still assumed to be the weaker counterpart and men still feel they must project a sense of non-expressive conduct to solidify their masculinity. Although the above scenarios may not apply to every situation and there are those who have progressed from such a mindset the reality is that these views still influence people’s perceptions of others.
As much as we would like to believe we are past these double standards and stereotypes unfortunately they are still heavily prevalent. This continues not just throughout high school and college but even into marriage and the supposed maturity of adulthood. The only way to be able to communicate directly to an individual— not their outer facade— is by looking past such social limitations and respecting people as they are. Then and only then can we move towards the ideals of justice and equality that a nation like the United States claims to eagerly strive for.
There is clearly no hiding that in most cases the female’s physique is “weaker” than the male’s. We can all see men tend to be built with much more muscle than women. Since the bodies of males and females are structured in two distinct manners it has created the development of many justifications for the view that a man is “superior” to a woman. Inferiority due to the type of body one is born with? One would assume society is past such suppositions yet it is evident that they are still active and potent.
This may occur if one chooses to attempt to measure whether the domestic or wage-earning role is of more value. When analyzing a circumstance in which the male is financially providing for the female and/or children one may conclude that the male is “stronger” and more dominant because without even a minimal monetary foundation security for the entire family unit would be nonexistent. Still one mustn’t forget that not only is the woman capable of possibly bringing in even more income than the male depending upon the occupation but that each role is entirely relative to the personality of the individual male and female.
This is not to say that there are no biological roots that shape the nature of the behavior of the male and female for this cannot be denied nor should we opt to eliminate every sense of traditionalism. However we must begin to look beyond what popular culture tells us is “correct” if we expect to see any growth in mutual respect and equality. One of the reasons males are frequently cautious when confronting their emotions is due to the social stigma such sensitivity has received. If one does not appreciate the “masculinity” stereotype and feels it poorly reflects what a true man is then do not further it by igniting or agreeing to remarks alluding to it.
There are countless double standards and stereotypes regarding gender roles many of which have become so standardized that we don’t realize how blindly we follow them. To expect a pure eradication of them may be a little too idealistic. Nonetheless ultimately if we wish to see even a slight alteration in our generation it starts with evaluating ourselves and capturing the true root of why our views continue to be the way they are.