I was surprised finding out that the topic for our paper was about our feelings of our gender. In the world we live in now, men and women have differences in their attitudes, feelings and lifestyles. Also, men and women treat and look at each other differently from the way they treat their same sex. There are many distinctions to be males or females that cause a double standard in the society surrounding us.
Both men and women are constantly concerned about their appearances. They are always trying to make themselves look good, even though they are physically different. In order for a male to look good, he is suppose to be big, strong, and athletic. On the other hand, in order for a female to look good, she is suppose to thin, pretty, and have a good figure. I think the females feel more of the pressures of looking good. In the past, I’ve talked to some of my girl friends and they told me that the pressure and competition they are faced with is stressful and painful. On the contrary being a guy, I do not have that much of a pressure trying to look better than a stronger and more athletic guy. I am rather more concerned of my own health and ways to improve it. At times, while walking around casually with my girl friends, when they weren’t looking appropriate, would get stares or comments from other female friends. I was even surprised when I heard my girl friends talking about other girls right in front of me, even though most of these times I didn’t notice anything wrong or different about the other girls they were talking about. From this observation, I think the pressure of always looking good would be greater if I was to be a girl. The double standard is seen between how a guy and a girl have to look good for their peers and other people.
When it comes to sexuality, I think there is great confusion for both males and females. The double standard is a great contribution factor of this happening. For instance, the same girls who are pressured to having sex on a Saturday night are called sluts and hoes on Monday morning in school. The boys, who forced them into sex at the parties, are talked about like studs. The way the society treats men and women with two dissimilar point of view, greatly offends me. Also, our society doesn’t have clearly defined and universally accepted rules about sexuality. The unfair value system form by the idealistic view of men and women, causes us to be confused in the world of what we are suppose to think.
In the world of sports, women are often view as to be not as competitive as men. Women are suppose to participate in the more feminine sports like figure skating and gymnastics. If a woman wanted to play in a mens sport like football or basketball, they are normally rejected by the coach or laughed at by the other male players. The same thing happens to a man who wants to play in a womens sport, except he is laughed at by the other guys, who think that to play in a womens sport would make them less of a man. This causes a great divide to form between mans sports and womens sports, and the double standard is clearly seen here.
The double standard is form by the different view of women and men in the society that surrounds us. In the way the society taught us, we are suppose to follow the double standard, but the double standard has prevented some one from achieving the goals of their life. Many people have begun to really treat the other sex as equals without looking at the outside appearances. Nevertheless as long as there are closed minded people the double standard would still exist in the future.
