The Problem With Language Regarding Women's Sexuality | The Odyssey Online
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Politics and Activism

The Problem With Language Regarding Women's Sexuality

Let women partake in sex.

23
The Problem With Language Regarding Women's Sexuality
The Huffington Post

Since the beginning of time, women have been fighting a battle to be seen as equals among men. However, we have not reached equality yet. One of the areas in which we lack equality is the difference in how men are praised for being sexual beings, yet this same characterstic in women is frowned upon.

Females who enjoy sex with no strings attached, have had multiple partners, or who have no interest in commitment are labeled as "hoe's," "Thot," or "promiscuous." All of these labels have a bad connotation and denotation with them. Men, on the other hand, do not face the same problems when people find out that they have slept with or sleep with multiple partners.

Some people may argue that men are also labeled things that have a bad connotation or denotation, but the problem is that those labels are only being cast within social groups. Women face this problem on the societal scale and within social groups. Until society, as a whole, looks down upon men for their sexual tendencies like they look down upon women, the way women or other people talk about men in their social groups will not be enough to say it is equally unacceptable.

Women are expected to be everything but sexual beings, while our bodies are constantly over-sexualized and made the key focus in conversations, debates, advertisements and so on. Society constantly treats women as and alludes to women as products, then when the concept of sex gets brought into the mix, we become products that shouldn't be touched by more than one to three men. Society makes the existence of women to bring pleasure to men, but women should not seek that kind of pleasure. The language that is used to describe women who enjoy sex just as much as men do, or plainly put, just as much as they should, helps to keep rape culture alive and thriving. The language helps to aid victim bashing by making it seem like just because a woman enjoys sex, or dresses sexily, that she wants whatever kind of attention that comes to her, yet we know this to be false. Men are told that it is normal for them to have sexual urges, that sex is healthy, that if a woman says “no” maybe she just needs a little persuading because they “know we want it.” There are no blurred lines when it comes to a woman demanding respect for her body and being left alone. Unfortunately, many believe that the lines are blurred, they just needed to be cleared up or crossed because they are sure that they know what women want. The individuals trying to decide a woman's boundaries for her, are not her, and odds are, they’re not women at all. Because of rape culture, we see things like this happen every day, even among males.

When a young male reports assault from a teacher or someone who is an older woman in their life, they are ridiculed. There are many people in the world who will say “what are they complaining about” or “that’s one lucky kid.” When actuality, he is a victim and by saying that he has nothing to complain about insinuates that it is okay for women to be as sexual as they please, but only with children. Most predators get praised in some way, and that is the unfortunate truth about our society. When a woman takes advantage of a child, she is changing his life for the better, but when a woman has sex with multiple partners and is in control of her own pleasure, she is a hoe. How does any of this make any sense?

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