Double Standards Of Feminism

Emma Watson, Coco Chanel, Madonna, Angelina Jolie, and Prince Harry. These people are all famous for their different reasons, but they all have one thing in common; they are all feminists. Feminism is becoming an increasingly popular and important political and social movement that not only women are becoming involved with. Feminism is an extremely misunderstood term. Many people who are uneducated on the topic assume it means the superiority of women and the “downfall” of men in society but in reality it is the strive for women to finally be seen and treated as equal to men. These famous feminists have been striving for an increase in women’s rights in their countries and around the world for years and are increasing awareness of the problem

These double standards are not seen as clearly as the physical standards women face but are equally as detrimental to the lives of women. These standards are affecting the way women work, act, and feel on a day to day basis. A study on the clearly evident sexual double standard of women found that women who had multiple sexual partners were shunned by peers of both men and women (Bahadur). These women were rejected for a private matter that does not change any part of their personalities or work ethic. This sexual standard does not translate to men; they are often praised for having multiple partners from friends or coworkers, but a women gets criticized and judged intensely. If a women has multiple partners they are instantaneously set to a lower standard and thought of as dirty, incompetent, or even unintelligent which should not be the case. Women can be treated very poorly in a workplace environment from this double standard due to the fact that it is considered “untasteful” from both men and women. Many women are harassed over their sexual practices only because other people do not agree with it even though it simply is not any of their business. This is just another excuse of society to express ignorance of sexism. Many cases of emotional double standards explain that women who show any negative emotion such as sadness are perceived as over emotional, but men that express the same emotion are seen as vehement and compassionate (Maitland). Both genders are expressing the same feeling but are being judged completely different to each other. Some women do not openly express an emotion they are feeling because they do not want to be seen as “weak”. Men are also often afraid of expressing certain emotions, but if they do there are not many negative repercussions from those