Rehabilitated promiscuous females face society’s skepticism

Becoming a college student teaches students a lot about reputation, be it academically or socially. From the social aspect, maintaining a good reputation in college is like walking a tight rope; one wrong move could mean social suicide. One of the biggest social blunders one can make is being overly promiscuous. However, different standards come into play considering whether that promiscuous person is male or female. The question arises, if a female has been promiscuous in the past and decides to clean up her act, can she salvage her reputation? Over the past couple months we watched the Tiger Woods scandal unfold. Woods slept with more than ten women; one being a porn star, while married. Why is this type of behavior acceptable for a man and not a woman? Perfect example, a very sheltered female enrolls in Florida A&M. Unaccustomed to all the attention her first year in college she starts dating four different guys simultaneously. She is also sleeping with all four guys. Once the news gets around she is labeled a whore and outcast.In the court of public opinion, if a woman makes one bad decision, she can be taunted for the rest of her college years. If this same situation involved a man, the outcome would be different. For men having sexual liaisons with four different women warrants praise by his friends.In a pre-Oscar interview with Barbara Walters, Monique Wilkes, Precious co-star, revealed that she is in an open marriage.“Let me say this: I have not had sex outside my marriage with Sidney. Could Sid have sex outside of his marriage with me? Yes. That’s not a deal-breaker. That’s not something that would make us say, ‘Pack your things and let’s end the marriage,'” said Wilkes. If Wilkes decided to step out on her husband she would probably not be viewed in a positive light, despite the fact that she is in an open marriage. Society has come so far and men and women are supposed to be equal. In spite of that, we often still see sex-based discrimination and unfairness whether it is in the workplace or college campus. So my question is this, “When will it become acceptable for men to be shunned for their transgressions?” Society makes us believe that men can do things that women cannot. In this case, men are afforded too much leniency. As time goes on our value system has to change in order to be true equality between men and women.