Growing up in today's society, there is an extreme emphasis on young girls aspiring to be whatever they want. From doctors, to lawyers, to astronauts — women can be whatever their hearts desired. This kind of social change might be termed social equality, yet there is a much bigger piece of the puzzle that we are ignoring. One thing they tell you that you can't be is a "slut."

Even in 2016, when we have a woman running to be president of the United States, we have women and men being treated 100 percent differently in social situations. This gap is also known as the double standard. As a freshman in college, this epidemic is much more obvious. A woman who has many sexual partners is deemed a "slut," while a man who does the exact same thing is glorified and looked at as desirable. As ridiculous as this may sound, it is very scary when you catch yourself thinking this way as well. That this belief is so deeply rooted in our social norms that it is your knee jerk reaction to persecute the girl in the situation while the guy walks away looking like a stud.

Why is this? Relationships in there entirety have made a complete 180 turn from what they used to be. We wait longer to get married, we establish ourselves as individuals first, divorce is at an all time high, gay marriage has been legalized. All of these pivotal changes in our social surroundings have created a different culture where both women and men explore there sexuality more than ever before, but why are women the only ones getting slut shamed?

Women today are more independent than ever. They enroll in the same majors as men at the same top colleges as men, work the same hours as men and the same high intensity jobs as men, and everyone for the most part is completely on board with that. We just need to realize what others do in there private life is there business and 1) not for us to judge and 2) if we are going to toss in our two cents, we should think about what we are saying before we give our automatic opinion.

The more socially aware we become of what we say and think will slowly change how this double standard and slut stigma is affecting others. With more and more young women being diagnosed with mental illnesses due to bullying and shaming from their peers we need to step in. As a society we need to recognize that our actions have consequences and make a change. Think before you speak; there is no difference between the actions of women and men in sexual situations. It takes two to tango my friends. So let's stop this ridiculousness and stop being so ignorant to the issue in front of us.