How Can Gender Roles Be Considered Deviant

Cultural shifts regarding gender roles have led to a drastic change in the way in which people are allowed to express their sexuality. The rules of sexuality have always been rigid and stepping outside of the acceptable boundaries of sexuality expression has led to people being ostracized, ridiculed, and even imprisoned. In accordance to the gender roles that people have followed for centuries, women were to never even admit that they had a sexuality, much less a sexuality that was free. Women in particular are a group in society that have historically been sexually repressed and this in part due to gender roles that tell them to be lady-like and subservient. In the U.S., the dominant culture instructs women to adhere to these strict rules and any women who opposes is deemed as a

deviant.

Deviance is defined as the recognized violation of social norms and sexual deviance is people going beyond prevailing cultural and subcultural scripts to invent their own. As shifts in gender roles become more prominent, women are beginning to express their sexuality more and what was once considered deviant is quickly becoming the norm. However, when engaging in sexual activities that deviate from the norm, there is a difference in who is considered deviant.

In the past few decades, “young adults became even more sexually liberated in the 1960s, with the rise of feminism, growth of college party events, widespread availability of birth control (condoms and oral contraceptives), and deposing of parental expectations as central to mating and marriage,” (Garcia, Reiber, Massey, Merriwether 1).As a result, things like hookup culture have risen, partly due to the rise of social media, but also due to third wave feminism, where “many constructs

were destabilized, including the notions of ‘universal womanhood,’ body, gender, sexuality and heteronormativity” (Rampton 1). Hookup culture is defined by social scientists as “a sexual encounter, usually lasting only one night, between two people who are strangers or brief acquaintances” (Gallagher 1). Prior to this sexual revolution, women were told to hold things like monogamy and chastity close to them, whereas now, “the modern young woman eschews tedious relationships in favor of far more ‘liberated’ casual hookups” (Drexler 1). In an article discussing hookup culture, Drexler poses the question of if hookup culture has led to a true liberalization of sexuality or if it is still rooted in inequality and seen as deviant by the larger culture. She cites a study which found “that both men and women judge promiscuous women—and that even promiscuous women judge other promiscuous women’ (Drexler 1). From this, the reader can come to the conclusion that despite the fact that there is a looseness of gender roles and greater expression of sexuality, it still doesn’t change the general attitude of others towards people who are promiscuous. In other words, despite more people engaging in sexual deviance, it is still seen as deviant in the 21st century.
In another article discussing the female perspective of hookup culture, the author addresses the double standard of hookup culture and how it seeks to benefit men more than women. Furthermore, she states that “men will gain status after the hook-up among other male peers” (Gallagher 2). In contrast, “females also are more likely to lose status after hooking up among their female peers” (Gallagher 2). This can be proved through examining language used in popular culture such as slut or whore, which is directed at females engaging in hook-up culture and stud or player, which is the playful language aimed towards men. (Gallagher 3). When men participate in hook-up culture, it is seen as being a part of a social norm whereas when women do the exact same thing, it is still seen as deviant. Gallagher puts it best when she states that “society tends to push two contradicting messages: sexual deviance is completely acceptable but it is only acceptable if you are a male” (Gallagher 3).
To conclude, hook-up culture seems liberating and progressive when looked at in contrast to the previous culture that told women serial dating and sexuality is something to ashamed of. When analyzing hook-up culture and the distinct ways it affects each gender, it becomes clear that hookup culture can have negative consequences for women. Moreover, when relating it to deviance, there is a clear difference in whether hook-up culture is seen on deviant depending on the gender of the person who is engaging in this phenomenon.