Gendered sexuality Flashcards
Why are straight men evaluated less negatively than women for being sexually active outside of romantic relationships?
- Because of the sexual double standard, where men are often evaluated more positively than women for the same behavior.
eg. slut label more often applied to women than men - More progressive gender ideals in gender-egalitarian countries like Iceland have less sexual double standards
How does effective sex education impact the power of the “slut” label?
Effective sex education normalizes sexuality and reduces the power of the “slut” label.
What is compulsive heterosexuality?
- It involves sexualized power over girls’ bodies to strengthen feelings or appearance of masculinity.
- Sex with girls, touching girls, coercive flirting (cornering)
- homophobic teasing
What purpose does homophobic teasing serve in compulsive heterosexuality?
It regulates masculinity and is sometimes used without true homophobic intent.
What are the proportions of teens reporting bullying by gender expression?
- LGB girls suffer more bullying
- Gender less of a factor, gender-diverse girls experience less bullying
- LGB boys experience more bullying than straight boys
- Feminine and gender-diverse boys experience more bullying than straight/cis boys
What are the trends in gendered sexual identification?
- Increase in LGBTQ identification, huge rise in bisexual identification with each new generation
- Women more likely to identify as bisexual, trend increasing with each age cohort
- More same-sex behavior among women, no movement for men
What are the gender differences in extramarital affairs?
- US frowns upon affairs, men more likely to engage in affairs than women
- Older men more likely than older women
- Women cheat for more sexual pleasure, men cheat for validation and to boost masculinity
What are some norms of heterosexual femininity?
- double standards continue into adulthood for women: while women have more options of acceptable behaviour they still walk a tight line
- Women must be beautiful but not engage in too many feminine practices
- Allow men to have a certain degree of control over women esp. with dating and in the workplace
- Be attractive but not too sexual or too prudish
- Be happy with singleness but enter into a relationship with a man before its too late
“Each rule involved some type of balance of perfect mux of different behaviours which often contradicted each other or coexisted uneasily”
What impact did sexual rumors have on the participants?
- Significant disruption in social lives and academic trajectories
- Effects included depression, changing courses, losing friendships, quitting activities, or leaving school
- Incidents happened in person, on and off school grounds, and online
What were the characteristics of lesbian and bisexual rumors?
- Focused on non-heterosexual actions or orientations
- Bonding exercise for some, way to ‘other’ non-heterosexual orientations
- Targeted for mannerisms, appearance, and not conforming to ‘normative’ femininity
What were the consequences of slut rumors?
- Threatened a girl’s ‘desirability’
- Performing normative femininity required being desired by boys without openly desiring sex
- Subjects often seen as passive recipients of boys’ desires –>Explicit pictures posted online by boys often incited slut rumors
- Reinforced gender inequality: boys’ actions invisible, girls’ actions highlighted
How did race and class affect involvement in sexual drama?
- Low-income girls and women of color resisted involvement to avoid stereotypes or criminalization + financial insecurity
- Privileged girls engaged more in drama: less concerned about behavior reflecting on families/academic records, more leisure time
