Sexual Double Standards

Today I went to the doctor's office.. that doctor's office.

It was fine - it didn't hurt, she was friendly, answered all my questions, but I left feeling disappointed. She didn't tell me something I didn't already know. "Yeah, libido could be affected by mononucleosis." "You know, evolution tells us that human's probably weren't meant to menstruate as much as we do in this era." Right! Got it!

She ignored the fact that at the bottom of the sheet that I filled out I didn't check "divorced," "single," "married," or "widowed." I checked what appeared at the bottom: "partnered." She kept on talking about how spermatic fluid interacts with female bodily chemicals. I could care less. Not out of meanness towards the world of medical knowledge, but just for my own purposes in getting in what I need to get in within the context of a 5-minute interaction with a doctor. Grrr! I felt widowed after that interaction. I thought it wouldn't be an issue.. I thought she'd have lots of people who'd check that option. It was frustrating to say the least. I think I won't go back there!

I think what I'd like to touch on in this post is the sexual double standard. What this is is "different standards of sexual permissiveness for women and men, with more restrictive standards almost always applied to women" (Crooks & Baur, 2011 as cited in Greene & Faulkner, 2005; Muehlenhard et al., 2003). What this definition refers to is the fact that men "have game" if they have hooked up with a fair number of women, while women are referred to in a derogatory light and labeled "slutty" if they have hooked up with a fair number of men. The context, though, and the "type" of individual they hook up with may play a role in this labeling. Additionally, men may be labeled negatively if they have hooked up with so many women that they appear to have sex with anyone and everyone.
This line is clearly a tight one to walk. I want to avoid the feminist debates about "oppression" and how oppressed women are. What is distinct to me is that men who are aggressive are viewed as masculine and are reaffirmed by American dating culture, while it is viewed in a more abnormal light for a woman to engage in the same behavior. Thinking for a minute about the behavior of masturbation, it is common for one to assume that a man masturbates on a regular basis. However, one think that a girl is obsessed with sex if she is known to masturbate regularly, even though masturbation is encouraged as a normal part of a sexually satisfying life. [insert Dominique's story about her female friend in Paris speaking about the need to masturbate.]
Researchers note that the gender double standards are dissipating in American youth today (Crooks & Baur, 2011 citing Davidson et al., 2008; Greene & Faulkner, 2005). It would be interesting to note if there exists a correlation between the increase of women masturbating against the number of men masturbating with respect to time. Currently 3/4 of women and almost all men have masturbated by the end of adolescence (Crooks & Baur, 2011 citing Coles & Stokes, 1985; Janus & Janus, 1993). These rates could be a sign that sexual double standards are decreasing with time and with the sharing of information. Another interesting statistic to view would be the number of women masturbating against men with respect to time before the arrival of the internet versus after the internet or the publication of the book "I Heart Female Orgasm." Additionally, there has been an explosion of gay freedom and support since the dawn of the internet and internet chat rooms, which provide comfort to those who are (Is it a choice?).
What the current trends do reveal (Centers for Disease Control study on "Percentage of U.S. High School Students Who Reported Sexually Risky Behaviors, 1991-2008," 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008) supports my general hypothesis. With time between the years 1991 (pre-mass access to the internet) and 2007 (post-mass access to the internet) the number of individuals having sex who are adolescent has decreased in each high school class year [there is a sociological term that describes hearing about how non-forbidden or common a behavior is and then wanting to do it less because it's not as taboo as one originally thought], the number of partners has decreased, and the use of condoms has increased.