http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/sexual+double+standard/1375083/story.html
The new sexual double standard
Robert Sullivan/AFP/Getty Images file
A new study suggests that men are increasingly being forced to follow
gender roles, while women are more free to be themselves.
Kathryn Blaze Carlson, National Post · Monday, Mar. 9, 2009
Women have long complained that men enjoy a double standard when it
comes to sexual behaviour, but a new Canadian study reveals a shift
which actually puts more sexual limitations on men, while lifting
those on women.
That men are traditionally high-fived for wantonness while women are
often pegged as sluttish has been an age-old watercooler discussion, a
point of contention among those seeking to level what they consider an
unfair playing field.
But the reality, according to the study, is that men are not totally
unconstrained. Instead, they are more limited by what is considered
taboo in the bedroom; hit by a new double standard that expects men to
be highly sexual, and yet expects them to be less experimental —
while the opposite is true for women.
The study, published in the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, found
that society accords men less “sexual latitude” than women, deeming
it abnormal for a man to be disinterested in sex, to engage in
homosexual fantasy, and to engage in submissive sexual acts.
“The double standard used to give men more sexual freedom than women,
but these findings indicate that the dynamic is changing” said Alex
McKay, research coordinator for the Sex Information and Education
Council of Canada. “Men are forced to abide by a certain gender role,
while women are today more free to be themselves. In this sense, the
standard actually works against the man.”
Canadian university students sampled for the study received a list of
33 sexual behaviours — watching pornography, masturbation, being
physically restrained during sex, voyeurism, and a catalogue of more
outside of the mainstream behaviours — and were asked to rate the act
on a scale from normal to abnormal. Half the participants’ surveys
referred to men — a man watching pornography, a man masturbating, a
man being restrained during sex — while the others received surveys
involving women.
Although the study sample was small — 104 male and female
undergraduate psychology students participated in the study — the
findings speak to what Mr. McKay and Ms. McGarvie said is a trend
toward a more modern discussion on gender and sexuality.
The researchers say the findings “underscore the conflictive nature
of the sexual double standard when applied to men … It demands that
they evidence greater interest in sexual matters, yet also requires
that this interest be channelled into modes of expression that are
‘socially appropriate.’”
One reason for why a greater number of “non-normative” behaviours
are considered acceptable for women is that women are allowed to take
on both dominant and subordinate sexual roles; men are not given that
same exploratory space.
“Men have a clear idea of what’s acceptable,” said Sue McGarvie,
sex therapist and radio personality. “They’re more concerned about
maintaining their macho persona. It’s as if they think they need to
have sex standing up with their boots on in order to show their
manliness.”
The study, by Todd Morrison, a psychology professor at the University
of Saskatchewan, calls for a deeper look into the impact of these new
dynamics on men.
“Greater research attention should be given to the burden that some
men may experience as a function of exposure to a sexual double
standard that demands they evidence an interest in sexuality and
should lead and control sexual interactions,” the study said.
That a greater number of sexual behaviours are considered normal, and
desirable, for women exemplifies the trend that more once-taboo sexual
behaviours are making their way out of what the study refers to as the
“outer limits” and into what it calls the “charmed category.”
For example, society now appears to accept the idea that married men
and women masturbate, something that just over a decade ago was a
“major area of contest,” the study said.
But, while the study in a sense debunks the notion that men have the
upper hand in the sexual arena, so too does it reveal that certain
aspects of the traditional double standard are still at play.
When it comes to the traditional notion that it is more acceptable for
men to watch pornography or be sexually active, for example, the study
shows that women deem men’s sexual prowess as more acceptable than
their own, embracing their role as the gender of lesser promiscuity.
“Women, in certain ways, were shown to accept the longstanding double
standard,” said Mr. McKay.
This is frustrating to Ms. McGarvie, who said sexual decisions are
personal and should be free from judgment based on gender, adding that
women should not be looked down on for appeasing their sexual needs.
“I keep hoping this part will change,” said Ms. McGarvie.
“It’s as if women are supposed to be a virgin in the bedroom, but
if our boyfriend wants us to hang from the chandeliers in the bedroom,
then that’s what we should do.”
National Post
