Austin stands out as a liberal island floating in a sea of outrageously conservative towns and cities in this great state. Surrounded by thousands of itty-bitty bumpkin hamlets whose women are characterized by teased blond hair and SUVs, we seem cosmopolitan — sophisticated, even. For God’s sake, people here drive hybrids. However, we are only relatively progressive in certain areas — like sex.
Our community still upholds some very traditional (i.e., backwards) and outdated (i.e., irrelevant) expectations of women and their sexual activities. Take this scenario: Girl meets boy, asks boy out, boy is weirded out, boy goes out with her anyway, girl and boy have sex, boy tells his friends the next day, girl is labeled a slut. Not forward, confident or empowered, but a slut. And all of her friends hear the story (because it is breaking news, you know) and worry about her. Most people who are introduced to her after the appalling “event” have heard the story before. Girl is presupposed by one single sexual event and thereon labeled a slut — or a whore, ho, hooker, whatever.
In what way does one’s level of promiscuity define who he or she is? We know the answer to this if the “slut” is a man. The more promiscuous, the better. It’s a well-done, pat-on-the-back congratulation, and said man is free to carry on with his sexual endeavors as he pleases. But a woman’s “reputation” (which always specifically involves sexual history) follows her. From her bedroom to the classroom, a woman in our community is held responsible for her sexual activities by her peers.
As a community that prides ourselves on our liberal point of view, a place that promotes an eccentric Jewish cowboy for governor, a place that celebrates Bob Marley and all that he stands for right around April 20 each year, how is it that we can’t get over the fact that women enjoy sex and have every natural right to do so? The risk of pregnancy is lower than it has ever been, and sexual education (though weak) is more prevalent than ever. The most ironic part is that women tend to judge each other for their rumored sexual histories far more than men hold it against the women they’re dating. A woman’s sexual history becomes intertwined with her abilities as a student, co-worker and friend.
Succumbing to and participating in this horrifying double standard further delays our growth as women, human beings and a democratic society. What we say and do as women is the only catalyst for change that we can all be a part of, and perhaps the most effective way that we can revolutionize negative perspectives on women’s sexuality.
Staggs is an English senior.
