Women and men are socialized differently and “past research often explains gender difference in sexual behavior according to differences in social norms” (Maas et al., 2015, p. 617). From a young age, society assigns specific roles to males and females. A study by Mass et al., examined adult’s perceptions of how being male or female will affect their sexuality and beliefs about sex. For example, the sexual double standard, explains that “men are allowed greater sexual freedom than women” (Maas et al., 2015, p. 619). This is where negative beliefs about sex arise. The study found that social norms direct the appropriate behavior for both men and women. For women, they felt that being female affected their sexuality. Specifically, many female’s explained that they felt that when girls sleep around they are branded with the words ‘sluts’ or ‘whores.’ (Maas et al., 2015, p.624). Compared to women, men did not have these titles, this is where the sexual double standard is relevant. Furthermore, negative beliefs about sex can be attributed to the sexual scripting theory. These are: “implicit rules that individuals develop in the context of …show more content…
The components contributing to negative sexual beliefs are what propagate the dominant ideal. Thus, making it difficult to communicate when the individual does not conform or agree with those ideals. Gender appropriation becomes an issue, since the false beliefs begin to propagate and form gender ideals and