Date: Wed, 16 Jul 1997 11:22:32 -0400
From: "Matt D." <afn02065-AT-afn.org>
Subject: M-FEM: The double standard.


Malgosia wrote,

>I think that the morality
>of the so-called "double standard" -- men are allowed to fuck around while

>to women this is prohibited -- has a long history and co-exists with the 
>morality that says that nobody is allowed to fuck around.

The evolution and current status of the "double standard" is a very
interesting
question indeed.  In our own time, it would seem that it is being
challenged
by some very powerful images on the level of mass culture (the most obvious
example would perhaps be Madonna?) yet has a certain resilience at the
bases -- but not, I'd posit, the same universality or unexamined character
that it enjoyed even 15 years ago.

Are we reaching a point, say in the next 20 years, where the sexual double
standard will disappear from late-capitalist culture?

>and is quite prevalent in, for example, Catholic cultures.

While randy Latins are a common stereotype, what are the statistics on
number of sex partners, incidences of infidelity etc. for men and women
from, say, Italy, Brazil, Germany and England?  Of course this is a
question of behavior as opposed to ideology -- perhaps you were referring
only to the latter?  But then the double standard has a long ideological
history in our very own United States, which we'd be hard-pressed to
identify as a Catholic culture, don't you think?

-- Matt D.