The “hook up” is prevalent among teenagers, allowing them to engage in sexual activity without letting others know if they just kissed or had sex with their partner. Sexual activity is on the rise, with more and more teenagers having sex. Teenage girls can engage in sexual activity with whomever they want, whenever they want, which is a seemingly empowering scenario. Today, girls can pick up boys, do what they please with them and still remain on an equal footing. The double standard has shifted!

Well, not exactly. Despite the seemingly sexually powerful women of
Sex and the City, young girls still face those cultural and social
stigmas that come along with sexual activity. Girls who have sex
often and with multiple partners are frequently labeled “sluts,”
whereas boys who do the same are not often considered “sluts”
themselves. Furthermore, girls must also avoid being too sexually innocent for fear of being labeled “prudes.” One must be “not too
slutty” and “not too prudish.” They are divided into the categories of
”whore” or “Madonna,” one being evil and sexual and the other being
nonsexual, but not necessarily good.


Virginity is thought of as some disease, only afflicting ugly, awkward
girls that no one would want to have sex with. It is often thought of
as something that one must “get rid of” so that they won’t need to
have the “I’m inexperienced” conversation with every boy they choose to
be sexual with. The longer girls wait, the more virginity goes from a
choice to a burden. Girls must constantly battle between two
seemingly different, yet equally negative stigmas.

Sluts will seemingly have sex with anyone, anytime, anywhere, eliciting sex from the lowest of the low. Prudes, on the other hand, reject even the most attractive mates, holding onto their purity by chastity belt. Sluts are dirty. Prudes are boring. These words are wrapped in astonishingly negative connotations and are still used today despite beliefs that we live in a hyper-sexualized world where women are allowed to roam free. It’s getting more and more difficult for teen girls to find the sanctuary between the slut and the prude.