Does it really matter WHY a double standard exists in regards to sexuality?

Question

This was inspired by this question

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AmCvE1JuKUxQ1WgQDokimz_sy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071217215410AAZxNTv&show=7#profile-info-QQQ36jMOaa

Some say it's a matter of social conditioning. Some say it has a biological purpose. Unfortunately, I've noticed that many people who make the "biological purpose" argument here seem to think that justifies it.

Even if there is a biological purpose (and I'm not convinced there is) does that mean we can't get beyond it? Does that give us the right to go on harshly judging one group for sexual practices that are applauded in another? As modern humans, is it not possible for us to get beyond something so incredibly outdated and accept that what other people do with their bodies is no one else's business, and no one else's place to judge?

Answer 1

I think that asking why there is a double standard is useful because it is always good to learn to recognise messed up non-thinking attitudes and how they are started and spread. And it is always good to think about who gains from it.

I think that the real point is to recognise that the world would be much better off if people didn't get in other people's personal lives when it is so not their business.

Answer 2

Well actually, it's a mix of biological purpose and social conditioning like most human things. First let me say, I don't approve of men who just sleep with anyone. That said, this whole 'it is my body, and I do whatever I want with it' mindset is fine, but you have to realize you (presumably) live in a society, and others will judge you. If that's good or bad, that's left up to you to decide, but it is a reality.

Two wrongs don't make a right, I've always seen men being applauded for such a thing as ethically wrong, so I would rather have that change, than women go down the same route.

Answer 3

The WHY is a justifier for people who are unable to understand that other's decisions have nothing to do with them. Here's the crux of the problem...most people are not intentionally being small minded when they ask why...they are trying to understand. People who are confident in their decisions are able to adequately articulate their thought processes in order to explain a situation. People who question their responses will appear defensive.

We, as a society and culture, teach people that the WHY is important...sometimes even more so than the outcome. I'm sure that you've heard of the moral dilemma where the question is asked "Would you steal to feed your starving children?" The whole issue surrounding that question is higher good. You know it's wrong to steal, but if it's important enough, would you do it anyway. The WHY holds the ultimate importance in the question. You have probably also heard the proverb, "It is not the destination that matters but the journey you take to get there." The destination is the ultimate decision that is made, the journey is the WHY.

The WHY is what separates thinking man from instinctual man...but that doesn't mean that the WHY should be used to sit in judgment. It is highly egotistical to think that the choices I make have a circle of influence outside of those in intimate contact with me. I have no issue with people asking the WHY, but I do have a problem with people who think their WHY is more important than my WHY. The WHY is important, just not as important as the understanding that the acceptance that other people make different choices than the ones you would make, and that's okay.

Answer 4

Yes, because the "why" is of crucial importance. Women, like it or not, are burdened with childbirth and sex leads to childbirth. If promiscuous, a woman raises the chances that she will be impregnated outside of marriage (and very likely by an irresponsible or uncaring "father") and ultimately create a substandard life for her child. That consideration has largely been dismissed since the advent of reliable birth control, but so has the stigma against loose women.

Answer 5

That double standard (by which, you might agree, women are held to higher scrutiny) is held up by women, even more so I might argue than by men. (After all, men will still sleep with a sl~t but women will shun her.) Why?: because women are in competition for the resources a man can provide her and her offspring. If he strays, those resources go elsewhere.

For women who are self-reliant (in terms of resources), that concern should be irrelevant. But you'd be hard-pressed to find a self-reliant woman who WOULDN'T get hard-boiled mad if her hubby/BF took his "bidniz" elsewhere!