Double Standards

In this modern society we so luckily reside in, men and women are judged ruthlessly by the ignorant on a daily basis. In order to fly under the radar, people are forced to monitor what they wear, what they say, how they look, and who they hang out with. Even simple tasks such as how someone eats or their profession is judged tremendously based on certain characteristics. These judgements are made wrongly towards both sexes, but the same accusations do not vary from one to the other. A double standard is a rule or principle that is unfairly applied in different ways to different people. A double standard exists when an action or moral is considered appropriate and praiseworthy for one group, but is considered wrong and deplorable for the other. In other words, an incredibly unfair judgement made towards a specific person or group of people, which eventually determines an inaccurate view of that person or multiple people.

When it comes to gender, double standards are alive and well. This specific type is tricky to detect, because gender double standards can take place within the same gender, although more commonly resurrected when perpetrated by the opposite gender. Have you ever been walking down the hallway admiring how risky someone’s outfit is, when all of a sudden, you get yelled at? Some people are able to get away with certain “inappropriate” outfits that others are discriminated against for.

One time I wore a backless dress to school and instantly got torn apart by an (I'm assuming) unhappy teacher who definitely needed to get laid or something. She told me I looked like I belonged in a "club" and made me go change. While switching clothes, out of frustration with the teacher and my body type, I gave a girl in the bathroom the dress and told her she could have it. A couple periods later I pass the girl in the hallway sporting the dress that was once mine. At the end of the day I complimented her on how she looked and asked her about her experience wearing the dress around school all day. She told me she received no dirty looks and actually got a couple compliments from teachers. A perfect example of a gender double standard that resides within the same sex. One body was rendered inappropriate, whereas the other was completely fine and worthy of compliments rather than accusations and punishment.

An instance where gender double standards may be applied to opposite sexes often times occur around clothing choices, as well as many other specimen. For example, some boys wear jean shorts, commonly referred to as “jorts,” as a humorous fashion statement for multiple events. These cut-off jean pants are definitely not dress code valid, but no one has ever gotten punished for the lack of length and excessive tightness. However, if any girl were to strut through the front doors of Buckeye High wearing tight, wrist-length jean shorts, she would immediately be attacked by whispers and vicious stares. She would not even make it halfway through the school day without a teacher demanding a change in wardrobe, but I have walked passed many jort-wearing boys on my way to ninth period in my four years of high school who have obviously not been told to change. One time, a couple boys came to school sporting their boxers on the outside of their pants. Everyone admired their confidence and did not take a second look. It was funny, (it really was, I thought it was hilarious myself) but it wasn't fair. If I wore my thong on the outer layer of my jeans I would be exiled immediately.

Another example: Have you ever noticed the way people, girls and boys, are treated when in direct correlation with how certain athletes are treated? I've walked in late to class and been marked absent then to see three football players stumble in after me and receive comments like "Great game last night guys, take a seat."

Double standards exist in the lives of even the most admirable humans. Artist Niykee Heaton was the victim of a sexual double standard while attending a Six Flags water park over this past summer.

“They wouldn’t let me in because I was wearing a sports bra in 85 degree weather,” Heaton tweeted.

This is clearly intolerable due to the fact that men are constantly seen without their shirts on roaming around water parks.

This specific instance is also an example of a gender double standard as well.

“There was a slim girl ahead of me who was let in without a second thought who also happened to be wearing a sports bra,” Heaton said. She concluded that she was discriminated against because of how her body looks.

When, if ever, will these inexact assumptions and reactions to certain people be put to rest? It is a reality of life that men and women are held to different standards, depending upon the subject. These different standards are not necessarily bad. Men and women are obviously somewhat different, but sometimes these seem unfair. As of lately, it seems as if this world will never be accepting of one another for how they are naturally, or how they choose to conduct themselves. Although this prediction is saddening, it is a part of life that can only be altered by the actions of us all. It is impossible to erase almost one million years of evolution in one politically correct generation, but we can only hope that one day we will live in a world of complete acceptance and absolutely no judgement. We’ll see.

When I wrote that we are so lucky to reside in this current society, I was only being sarcastic to a point. We actually are very lucky to be living in a world that is constantly changing in forms of almost every single thing. Two hundred years ago people would not believe someone who claimed there would one day be an African American president, or that same sex marriage would be legalized, and look where we are now. There will always be the occasional occurrence of an incorrect form of judgement due to, like I said, ignorance, as well as the cloud of unfairness that engulfs the earth, but the world is changing.