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I was sitting across from my therapist some months ago, discussing my woeful experiences with dating and the opposite sex. I told her that after being brought up Catholic, with a deeply conservative cultural background, I was feeling more and more motivated to start living life as a sexually liberated woman.
I wanted to be loud and proud about my sex and sexuality, and not be bashful about my body and what I desired. I was annoyed at first, even a little angry.
What did she mean, how is that working out for me? This is the way we should all be living our lives! How could sheβ. The study involved interviews with single women aged , and what they found was a startling incongruity between the expectations of an era where gender equality and female sexuality is much more recognised, and a traditional set of dating rules that has persisted for decades.
It just has a more modern context. While Instagram models boast hashtags like freethenipple, and female pop stars croon about demanding what they desire in the bedroom, everyday women still struggle to find equality or empowerment in their sexual relationships. So many women have found themselves in a situation like this. To leave an awkward situation, to maintain peace, and even to save herself the embarrassment of being teased or chastised for being prudish, a woman may find herself simply doing what the man desires.
In their research, Pickens and Braun found that their candidates shared similar stories. We still live in a society where women are under the impression that it is their duty to please, and to be submissive. How do we re-train men into understanding that a sexually liberated woman does not equal an object slut to be used and abused?
