Friday, October 18, 2013

Virginity and the Double Standard

As I'm working on my memoir, I'm spending some time discussing virginity, as it is a very relevant issue to my journey. And it occurs to me that our delightful double standard around sex is probably pretty punitive to men when it comes to virginity. After all, a woman who is a virgin probably has "reasons," but a virgin man is just a loser, right? I think about the movie the 40 Year Old Virgin (which I found hilarious). Would that movie had worked if the virgin had been Catherine Keener rather than Steve Carrell? Would it even have gotten made?
I'd love some feedback. What do you think society labels a virgin man? Do women virgins have more social acceptance? Why and how?

1 comment:

  1. hmm, I do think society accepts & even expects men to be sexually active even if they are not in a relationship. So a virgin man is def abnormal outside of Christain & Catholic churches. I do think women virgins have more social acceptance simply because they are viewed as having more to lose. Women can become pregnant and are more likely to raise a child alone which changes her entire life. Whereas, it is normal for guys not to take responsibility for their seed. I think we need more of society depicting a man stepping up and taking responsibility to financially support and have a relationship with their kid(s) even if they don't marry the mom. I.E. movies like Courageous. Also need more of the arts showing the truth about the risks of STDs with sex for men and women.

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