Double Standard

Sex Roles, Vol. 52, Nos. 3/4, February 2005 ( C 2005) DOI: 10.1007/s11199-005-1293-5

The Sexual Double Standard: Fact or Fiction?
Michael J. Marks1,2 and R. Chris Fraley1

In contemporary society it is widely believed that men are socially rewarded for sexual activity, whereas women are derogated for sexual activity. To determine whether a sexual double standard exists, both undergraduate (n = 144) and Internet (n = 8,080) participants evaluated experimental targets who were described as either male or female and as having a variable number of sexual partners. Targets were more likely to be derogated as the number of sexual partners increased, and this effect held for both male and female targets. These results suggest that, although people do evaluate others as a function of sexual activity, people do not necessarily hold men and women to different sexual standards.
KEY WORDS: double standard; sexuality; sex partners; attitudes toward sex; gender norms; gender differences; sexual activity; gender equality; promiscuity.

In contemporary society it is widely believed that women and men are held to different standards of sexual behavior (Milhausen & Herold, 2001). As Barash and Lipton (2001, p. 145) noted, “a man who is successful with many women is likely to be seen as just that—successful . . . [whereas] a woman known to have ‘success’ with many men is . . . likely to be known as a ‘slut.’ ” The view that men are socially rewarded and women socially derogated for sexual activity has been labeled the sexual double standard. The sexual double standard has received a lot of attention from contemporary critics of Western culture (e.g., Lamb, 2002; Tanenbaum, 2000; White, 2002). Tanenbaum (2000), for example, has documented the harassment and distress experienced by adolescent girls who have been branded as “sluts” by their peers. Other writers have critiqued the way the media help to create and reinforce negative stereotypes of sexually active women (Waggett, 1989)...