IndomitableSam said:
Anyway. There's still a terrible double standard when it comes to women vs. men: the whole marriage/kids thing. It's perfectly fine if a man doesn't want either of those, but a woman is one of the following if she does't want a husband and kids:
(Beware, these are stereotypes and what 'people' think, not what I think)
1. Lesbian
2. Fooling herself
3. Too ugly to find a man
4. Lying to herself (same as above, I know, but it bears repeating)
5. Denying nature/biological clock
6. A career woman aka ice queen/*****
7. Not quite right in the head
8. Damaged goods
9. Spinster/cat lady
... And there's probably a few more. A guy who doesn't want kids is:
1. Straight or gay, both is fine
2. Focused on his career which is perfectley ok
3. Never going to grow up (not generally seen in a bad light)
4. Normal - all men don't need to want kids
And believe me, as a woman around the age of 30, I've been called/told all of the above. Even by family. And total strangers. People truly think there is something deeply, horribly wrong with you if you don't want kids and will tell you so. The nicest thing they say? "Oh, you'll change your mind" "Oh, you'll see sense later on" "Oh, you'll know better later" ... Yeah. Still makes me want to throat-punch them.
As a male approaching 30, I would argue that there is another dreadful double standard that exists within people's perceptions, and that is with regards to sexual compulsion.
For comparison:
It's perfectly fine if a woman doesn't want sex to any great degree, but a man is one of the following if he doesn't exhibit (what I would consider) an extreme focus upon obtaining sex with a woman:
(Likewise, the 'Beware, these are stereotypes and what 'people' think, not what I think' notion applies to the following as well)
1. Gay
2. Fooling himself
3. Too ugly to find a woman
4. Gay
5. Spending more time masturbating than breathing
6. Denying nature/instinctual male sexual drive
7. A career man aka one-night-stand-stud
8. Gay
9. Not quite right in the head
10. Damaged goods
11. Gay
12. Gay
13. Gay
14. Gay
15. Gay
... And there's probably a few more, most of which tend to focus on his desire to explore the labyrinthine passages of big hairy men's rear ends.
A woman who doesn't want sex with a man is:
1. 'Not a slut'
2. Focused on her career, which is perfectly okay
3. Finds a vibrator more fulfilling than a man could be (not generally seen in a bad light)
4. Normal - all women don't need to want sex
5. A lesbian (not generally seen in a bad light)
Of course, that goes both ways after a fashion, as a woman who DOES want sex with a man is often portrayed as 'A slut', while a man who DOES exhibit the (in my opinion) overt drive for sex with a woman is considered normal or (if successful more often than not) a stud/'playa'.
