desertvixen | Reading Post #49

He's a Stud, She's a Slut and 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know by Jessica Valenti of Feministing.com.

Go forth and read it. None of it is really new, which is the point. Women deal with this stuff every damn day. Some of the topics are small, and some aren't. But most of them are going to sound really familiar...

Men who have lots of sex, who score, are studs. They're envied. They have achieved something,
Women who have lots of sex, are sluts. They're dirty. They lose something.

Women in charge are bitches. Women who speak up are loud, we're shrill, we're grating.
Men who are in charge are leaders. Men who speak up are respected, are listened to.

Women who are angry are too angry.

Women who don't conform to a certain standard of beauty are sloppy - but women who put a lot of time into grooming are vain.

And how often do men get stopped on the street and asked why they're not smiling?

There's a few annoying typos, including Gem when it clearly should have been Jem (outrageous, I know), and I find the use of pet terms for the vagina a little annoying, but it's definitely worth reading.

DV