Summary Of She's A Stud By Jessica Valenti

A few stories from her book consist of young females, as young as fourteen, and their treacherous journey through adolescence with the title of “slut” weighing on their shoulders, when in reality it may not have been true or consensual sexual relations. Continued in her book, there are cases where women are asked about their sexual relationships and gynecology records when filing a lawsuit against people or companies for sexual harassment from males and payment inequality. When men were surveyed, 92% said that the double standards, that they themselves live up to, are unfair, but 65% said that if a woman they liked had slept with ten to twenty men the previous year, that they would not take them

  Then Barry supports his position by presenting an example of a women's low self-esteem. His first example is how America creates toys for children with   very different proportions depending on the intended gender. “This is a difficult appearance standard to live up to, especially when you contrast it with the standard set for little boys…”(Barry 1). Toys for girls such as Barbie have standards which no “normal” human could ever obtain naturally.

Sexual double standard is when there is more sexual freedom for men than women in the world. Summary of example: Legal experts, meanwhile, are beginning to speak out about a double standard regarding how courts treat male versus female statutory rapists. Men fall into the usual stereotype of somehow believing a teenage male student probably enjoyed a sexual relationship with his adult teacher. Male teachers are always labeled as predators by the public. Female teachers are often mischaracterized as immature, confused or even vulnerable- even though they are just as predatory in their selection and grooming behavior to seduce that child. When it comes down to equality between the sexes it will never be even. The example is relevant to this topic

There seems to be a myth of sexuality and virginity because neither exist. It is time to teach young women that their ability does not depend on whether or not they are sexually active but that their ability to be good people depends on actually being good people. Valenti states that this book is for women who are suffering every day because of the lie that virginity exists, and that it has some bearing on who we are and how good we are. When it comes to understanding the myth, young women are taught about morality, but there is hardly ever any talk of compassion, kindness, courage, or integrity. There is a lot of talk about hymens: if we have them, when we will lose them, and under what circumstances we’ll be rid of them. By fetishizing youth and virginity, we are supporting a disturbing message: really sexy women are not women at all- they are girls. A strong statement that has probably touched the heart of those that have read this book states that: “A women’s worth lies in her ability or her refusal to be sexual… their bodies and their sexuality are what make them valuable. The sexual double standard is alive and well, and it is irrevocably damaging young

I was reminded of modern day double standards when Collins pointed out the sexual ambitions of both non married men and women. “Girls were supposed to remain chaste until marriage while boys were allowed to press for whatever sex they could get” (Collins 151). I think that this quote strongly represents how women are seen today. You always hear that if you do not want to be sexual you are prude, but if you do anything sexual you are a slut. That double standard just never seems to go the same way with men. When men do anything sexual, you get hit with the boys will be boys mentality. I can not stand that boys will be boys saying and it seems that it is becoming more frequent with an increase in sexuality in our generation. It is sad to me that the sexuality of men and women are seen so differently when there is absolutely no difference.

Here in the United States, progressive laws as well as equal rights movements have lead to far less extreme consequences for their actions, but that doesn’t mean that the epidemic of double standards against women doesn’t live strong in our society. As I grew up I began to realize the sacredness of a woman’s virginity in the eyes of my peers, and as I continued to grow, I watched the exact same peers frown upon the girls that had lost their virginity. Being towards the top of the social hierarchy at my school allowed me to talk to hundreds of boys and girls. I would sit and listen as boys would say “I don’t want her, she’s a (explicit)” or even go to as far as exploit the girls

The theory being tested in the article is that women participate in slut shaming as a way for them to distance or separate themselves from other women. The reason they separate themselves is a way for women to categorize other women into different statuses and a way for themselves to maintain their own status. The status classes women are categorized in are linked to the social class they are a part of. Slut shaming among women is not necessarily based on their sexual acts, but of the way they act as a woman. The theory also states that slut shaming is also a result of male dominance and female submission. The slut label was created by men due to a double standard created by society. The double standard is that men are expected to act upon their sexual desires regardless of being in a relationship or having any emotional connection with the person they’re engaging that sexual act with all while women are only allowed to participate in sexual activities if they are in a loving and committed relationship. However, if

In today’s society, it seems that there has been an increase in the word slut. Girls are depicted as either good girls or prudes that “save themselves till marriage” or bad girls or sluts who are very sexual and promiscuous. They are either labeled as prude or sluts, which are both derogatory terms. We have begun to take away the idea of someone being a victim, and this idea of victim blaming stops. Films have helped embed this within our culture. In horror movies women, are killed for having sex; in comedies, women are called sluts and whores for being too flirty. This has caused society to believe it is okay to call women sluts. Slut shaming in movies turns high schoolers into bullies and college men into perverts. This causes negative effects on all women. This also creates a rape culture that we have been hearing about in the news, dealing with main actors/actresses, movie producers, politicians. Women are not allowed to be sexual human being, so that’s when they are labeled as sluts and men use that idea of them being a slut as their chance to rape a women and victim blame the women for being sexual.

This binary relationship manifests itself in Levy’s work in another way, as well. Toward the very end of the book Levy claims she has no complaint against women who do gain genuine sexual pleasure from “their vaginas waxed, their breasts enlarged” (Levy, 198). On one hand, Levy recognizes that sexuality is personal and that everyone’s own experiences and preferences are unique. Yet at the same time, by drawing the line between “authentic” and “fake”, she must impersonally interpret these experiences in order to classify them as “problematic”. This desire to judge yet not judge women’s sexual nature represents an underlying tension within the book that threatens to unravel her arguments.

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

In the short story, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, you hear about the many words of wisdom, or advice that a mother is attempting to pass on to her daughter. The condescending tone of the story is portrayed by the use of semi colons, showing a steady stream of advice and preaching of the mother onto the daughter. The story follows an almost poetic or lyrical style of writing that flows from basic advice like how to sweep a corner to advice like how to handle a man bullying you or how to have an abortion. Although a lot of the advice given to the daughter may be useful in her life and in the culture they live in, it is delivered in a way that seems very callous, and is said with a stern tone, much like a dictator. The daughter in the story tries to speak up only twice throughout the entire thig, only to be completely unheard as the mother continues her chant. The only time the mother’s advice is repeating is when she refers to her daughter as a slut, or her inevitable “becoming of a slut”, which occurs four times throughout the work. The story is written with no real chronological timeline and does not have the traditional beginning, middle, and ending.

The stereotypes imply not only that female biological processes are less worthy than their male counterparts but also that women are less worthy than men.” (Martin 237).

In association with being “pretty,” women are also subjected to the overly sexualized image of what is feminine. Women are constantly thought of in a sexual light no matter what they do, and Tannen points this phenomenon out when she writes,

Media influence has caused beauty to evolve into ideals that can’t actually be attained. In addition to this, women are objectified and seen as sex objects, being sexualized by men without consequence due to the normalcy the media has created for genders. In fact, men are even encouraged to sexualize women. During her TEDTalk, Kilbourne presented a photo of an adolescent boy wearing a shirt that stated “pimp squad,” showing how our society is comfortable with men sexualizing women from a very young age. In contrast, women are labeled as sluts or whores without even engaging in sexual activity. I, for example, have been called a slut for wearing leggings, merely talking to a guy, and even wearing shorts— in the summer.

Women constantly face a double standard when it comes to sexuality, it's been this way for years. In fact in the Victorian era there is a huge double standard where women seemed to be on interested in sex and we're to have a high standard of sexual behavior unlike the men in that time who had powerful sexual drives and it was almost the social norm for them to have multiple sexual partners. Even today there still a double standard, it has gotten better with feminism any quality but men are still seen as superior when they have multiple sexual partners unlike women who are looked at as sluts and whores because they have multiple sexual partners. Trying to use the slut shaming, which is where women are downgraded by both men and women because