The term double standard is defined as "a situation in which two people, groups, etc., are treated very differently from each other in a way that is unfair to one of them," according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary website. Many of us, especially women, have experienced double standards in one way or another. It may not come as a surprise, but there are extreme double standards in the world of sexual addiction.
There is a severe lack of research and knowledge about female hypersexuality. This stems from the double standard that men always want sex, and women never do. Because of this, sex addiction in women can often be ignored, undiagnosed, and untreated. What people don’t know, however, is sex addiction in women is growing fast, and more and more women are diagnosed every year. A study from 2003 found that nearly twice as many women as men fell into the "needing further evaluation" and "at-risk" categories of sexual addiction. This essentially means that a large number of women exhibited the behaviors of sex addiction, but were either undiagnosed or unaware that they exhibited these behaviors. In fact, researchers did not develop a satisfactory sexual addiction screening tool that properly assessed sex addiction in women until the year 2010, while one that assessed men has been around since 1988.
While these facts and statistics can be viewed as unfair, there is a way we can help. If you know a woman that is suffering from sexual addiction, start a conversation with her. The key to getting rid of the double standards and stigmas associated with female sex addiction is education and communication. Share facts, statistics, and information with those around you, and together we can get the information out there, and most importantly encourage people to get help.
References:
"Sex 'Addiction' Isn't a Guy Thing," by Tori Rodriguez http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/11/sex-addiction-isnt-a-guy-thing/281401/
No comments:
Post a Comment