The stereotype I have chosen to research is the idea that a woman who is considered promiscuous is often seen wrong and shameful, whereas males who are considered promiscuous suffer no harm to their reputation. In American culture, these ideas of women are “sluts” and men are “studs” has become a norm in modern day society, and dates back centuries.
First, it is important to put a proper definition to the word promiscuous. Webster dictionary online defines promiscuity as “not restricted to one class, sort, or person.” In context to what I am and will be discussing, promiscuity is the act of not being restricted to one sexual partner. This topic interested me because there is so much history behind this topic. If someone were to take a look back into previous generations, they would surely see that it is common reoccurring theme for women to be damned for their sexual activity, while as it is rarer to hear the same about men.
One example of this stereotype would be Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, where a women is forced to wear the letter A on her chest in order to humiliate her for having a bastard child. Another more modern portrayal of this and based off of Hawthorne's novel, in the 2010 film Easy A, where a young high school girl begins to pretend to have sexual encounters with different men so that the men can seem to be more of a ladies man, but at the sacrifice of her own reputation It is unclear at the moment, why exactly this double standard exists; however I am excited to find out why.
