Gender, Social Class, And Slut Discourse On Campus Essay

“I felt his hands start to move down towards my shorts as if he was trying to unbutton them or pull them off. I was still crying at this point and felt so scared that I couldn't move” (Hummer, 1989). These were the words said by a freshman away at college after she had been sexual assaulted. From the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National network, statistics show that “over 90 percent of all gang rapes on college campuses involve fraternity men” (Hummer, 1989). Most often these woman may be labeled as trash, shameful, or ready for action, aside from a victim, prey, or survivor. Rape myths encourage these deprecating terms for women and cover the reality of a rape culture.

As individuals, we are all given assigned aspects that define us. Race, gender, and social class are just a few of the characteristics that make us who we are. We also choose to take on certain aspects that reflect our own interests such as careers, fashion, and fandom. When our chosen and assigned aspects come together, our own identity is formed. These parts eventually impact and affect each other with the idea of intersection. The interconnection of being a woman and belonging to a certain career cross and act on each other in ways that are mostly negative. Many women find being successful in their careers very difficult especially women who are based into a male dominated industry.

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

Throughout the book, Bogle places particular attention to gender differences. Supporting Bogle’s findings, there is still a double standard for men and women. Participation in the hookup scene is risky for women, while men have few, if any risks. Women who behave too “sexually” in the hookup culture have to recognize that there are repercussions. These repercussions include damaged reputations, being labeled, and being ostracized by peers. Women can get labeled, damage their reputations, or ostracized by having too many partners, hooking up with two guys that know each other well, dressing in a seductive manner, constantly hanging around a fraternity house, or drinking too much.

The students in Campus Center Dining Hall all adhered to the social norms that have been set. Social norms greatly influence our everyday life, even when we don’t think they do, as is evident in the dining hall. The positive or negative sanctions that we face when we adhere to/deviate from the norms help determine whether or not we engage in a specific behavior in the future. By using the sociological imagination,

The first main sociological question in the "Fraternities and Rape on Campus" study performed by Patricia Yancey Martin and Robert A. Hummer was, "What characteristics do fraternities have that make them prone to objectification of women and more likely to commit gang rape on college campuses and why fraternities encourage the sexual coercion of women.

Researcher’s try and explain the prevalence of sexual assault may be higher amongst these groups because; there is a promotion of toughness and dominance, endorsement of traditional and conservative sex-role attitudes and engagement of heavy alcohol consumption. There seems to be a double-standard view of women’s rights amongst fraternity men. While endorsing women’s casual sex it may in fact contribute to sexual assault. Men often tend to misperceive women’s friendliness as a sign of sexual interest. There is a blurred line when defining flirting and when it can be taken seriously. Men seem to take the act as most more sexual, while girls are more likely to perceive it as light hearted fun. Blurred definitions can further lead to confusion and possibly anger when it comes to interacting with the other

Citation: Armstrong, E. A. et al. ""Good Girls": Gender, Social Class, And Slut Discourse On Campus". Social Psychology Quarterly 77.2 (2014): 100-122. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.

In the article, high sexual prime of the hundreds youth on campus together with alcohol and other drugs are blamed for these heinous acts and it has thus become an “accepted” cultural norm. Sexual assault, which the article defines as a forceful compellation of someone to engage in unwanted sexual activities with another, and it can range from kissing to penetration, is on the rampant increase and hence raising nationwide concerns. These concerns and opinions, however, divide the nation along political, gender, civic, and cultural lines. Meanwhile no exact factors have been linked to the rising cases of sexual assault on campus even though alcohol, male college sexuality and age have proven to be a factor. On this, divisive positions also emerge but no one seems to answer the question why it is so frequent and rampant in nearly all college campuses.

Sexual assault often derives when frat members are under the influence of drugs or alcohol as seen at many colleges and universities. At University of Virginia sexual assault has been all over the headlines on magazines. The Department of Justice released a study that "Rape and Sexual Assault Victimization Among College-Age Females, 1995-2013," shows that not only are female college students less likely to experience sexual assault than non-college women 18 to 24, but the rate at which they are sexually assaulted is nowhere near the "one in five" or "one in four" statistics brandished by advocates” (Young 1). Thus illustrating the sexual assault is not very common for fraternities to commit the crime of sexual assault to women. Therefore fraternities do not promote misogyny as example shows.

In the film Rocky Horror Picture Show the character Dr. Frank-N-Furter sings the words, “So I’ll remove the cause, but not the symptom” (O’Brien). In this cult classic musical written by Richard O’Brien follows a newly engaged couple through a sexual journey as they lose their innocence and start to conform to traditional gender stereotypes. Today the youth of America are being bombarded with conflicting ideas about gender, race and sex. These conflicting ideas can lead to skewed visions on what defines masculinity and furthermore what defines femininity. Furthermore, sexual assault on college campuses by men and particularly student athletes have come to the forefront of many news headlines in recent years and while some believe that sexual assault stems from “locker room culture”, rather it stems from a skewed sense of masculinity that has been created over the years of consuming media. Many try to educate these same men on what defines consent and how to properly act in sexual situations, but this is merely trying put a temporary solution on a much larger issue. If people wanted the systemic issue of sexual assault to be reduced, then the root cause must be removed. A twisted view of masculinity is the root cause of many sexual assault because a twisted view of masculinity causes unhealthy understanding of sexuality and consent.

The physical body has been seen as many things both positive and negative. It can be thought of as the temple which houses the soul or can be seen as entrapping, like a cage of flesh. More often it seems that the body, especially women’s bodies, are looked at in more complicated ways than the bodies of men. As I grew up, it began to feel more and more like my body, and the bodies of other women, did not actually belong to us like we believed. Through my Women’s Studies class I have gained more knowledge on the body as a political object. In this essay I will examine six different articles with the similar theme of women’s bodies, the expression of those bodies and how by using feminism as a political standpoint they gain power and ownership of their bodies.

Unlike older populations, college women are more likely to put off seeking care for STDs. This interval of prolonged care avoidance is mainly a result of the heightened sense of sexually transmitted disease associated stigma that is directed towards undergraduate women (Fortenberry, 420). Female students have increased fear regarding testing due to the bubble-like social setting that university campuses often create. One undergraduate woman discussed the source of her own fear and refusal towards testing, stating that "you don't want to tell people you are getting tested. I mean, it's that telephone effect.” Another female student had a similar sentiment and expressed how easily and quickly rumors could spread through college campuses (Barth

     For many years society has embraced the idea that the difference between men and women were biologically determined. Thou through traditions, media, and peers we act accordingly to how others view us. Each individual has pressure placed upon them based on their gender. Our sex is determined by genetics while our gender is programmed by social customs. Some theories interpret that a women is tender and a loving mother while on the other hand men are aggressive hunters and are the dominant one of the family. People who support this theory seems to believe that men and women are happier when fulfilling the roles nature determined for them. Women are to be nurturing and men are to be providers by

In the United States, our concept of gender, and the differences between men and women, have deep traditional roots. Men are supposed to be strong individuals, who support and defend their families. Women are seen as nurturing, and motherly, more gentle and tame. We believe so strongly that the two genders are entirely separate, with such completely different traits, that it almost seems that men and women are just born with different qualities.