I have been told my whole life how girls can’t do things; how they’re not as good in sports as boys, how they don’t belong in politics, etc. But you see, these comments always came from men that wanted me to think I was less.
The whole thing really didn’t bother me until I hit puberty and my body started to change and I started dating. One day I was talking with a guy friend; he told me that girls who cheat are sluts. I was shocked and I told him that although I think that cheating isn’t right, I certainly don’t think that any woman should be called a slut.
His answer was that if a boy cheats, he can’t help it–it’s in his genes. Also, if a boy cheats it’s his girlfriend’s fault for not giving him the attention he deserves. But if a girl cheats it’s simply because she is a slut. I was so outrage by that comment. I guess I never really realized how women were treated and how unequal our society is.
I told him how offensive I thought that comment was. He said that obviously these are my thoughts since I’m a slut because I sleep with whoever I want.
My immediate thought was, “why can’t I? Isn’t it my body?” If boys sleep around without anyone calling them names, what makes a woman different? What makes us so different that when a woman embraces her sexual freedom she must be stigmatized?