It's Time to End the Double Standard!

Earlier this year Rush Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke an inappropriate term suggesting that she is sexually promiscuous because she is unmarried and takes birth control. He implied that anyone who took birth control MUST have been using it to have endless pre-marital sex and therefore must be a sexual promiscuous. Throughout history women have been required to remain virgins until they were married or face consequences up to and including the death penalty. Women were also required to remain faithful to their husbands for the duration of their marriage regardless of how they were treated by their spouse. Men on the other hand had no requirements for virginity on their wedding nights, and once they were married, men were allowed to have concubines and mistresses. That was then. This is now.

A lot has changed since the days when women were considered to be little more than property. Especially here in America and in other "western" nations women are considered to have equal rights as men, and are certainly able to work, own land, and vote. Yet for some reason this double standard that requires women to always want a long term relationship while men can sleep around remains. Nobody seems to question it when a young man has multiple partners and even has partners who's names he cannot remember, but if it's a woman then she is labeled with an inappropriate term suggesting that she is sexually promiscuous. They are exhibiting the exact same behavior, and yet the man is lauded for his ability to "get laid" while the woman is treated like scum.

Personally I find this double standard offensive. I happen to enjoy sex a great deal, and find myself wanting sex just as often as many of the young men that I know. However, if I were to express this publicly I would be labeled with the same term that Mr. Limbaugh used. Even my own boyfriend at one point used an inappropriate term suggesting that I was sexually promiscuous because I had been open with him about my sexual desires. There is no call for this. There is no reason for this. Many young women these days are very comfortable with their own sexualities, and because they are young and they want to be free to enjoy life their only interest is in casual relationships. Casual relationships, that include sex because even thought they do not have nor want a boyfriend they still want to have sex.

The next time you find you or someone else you know referring to a sexually active woman with an inappropriate or demeaning term, try to remember that these young women are no different than their young male counterparts. They have the same wishes, the same desires, and the same urges, and they should not be required to suppress said urges simply because they have female genitalia. Try to to remember that they are human beings just like everyone else trying to navigate their way through the modern dating world where sex is not only accepted, but expected. In other words THINK before you judge!