You’re at this great party with all your friends. Suddenly, you look across the room and that hot someone you see everyday after third period is right there. Using all your courage, you make your way over to them, and soon enough, they’re making their way all over you. If you’re a boy, Monday morning could be the next best day of your life. But if you’re a girl, it could be absolutely dreadful.

I’ve seen it happen many times: a girl hooks up with a guy, and she gets called a slut. It doesn’t matter what the situation is. If she was drunk and doesn’t remember his name, she’s a slut. If she was found horizontally, going at it with a hot upperclassman, she’s a slut. If she was sucking the face and getting hot and heavy with the cutie she’s had a crush on since freshman year, well…she’s still a slut.

But if a boy is getting it on with any girl, no matter what her name is or what she looks like, he gets high fives and applause.

Society has always told us that boys can have one-night stands and screw around with as many girls as they want. They’re players. They’re gods. But a girl who does the same thing? A whore. A skank. A tramp.

Girls are taught to keep their sexual urges inside. We shouldn’t kiss and tell or act too promiscuous, and God forbid that we show too much skin or voice our own sexual desires. We’re looked down upon if we admit to any dirty deets of our dirty deeds. But boys can parade around how quickly they shoved their tongues down some girl’s throat and how fast they unhooked her bra.

Noah*, a boy whose charm and flirtation seem to get him all the ladies, has hooked up with 25 girls, and considers some of them sluts because they are “always tryna get on.”

Wanting a boy’s perspective on this confusing subject, I asked Noah what he would do if his best friend, a natural salesman who could convince anyone of anything, hooked up with some chick.

He interrupted me, saying, “High five. Instantly. We even have this thing. If he does, he sends me a text that only says, ‘Sex.’”

I asked, “If a couple have sex within the first week of their relationship, is the girl a slut?”

“Yeah, she kind of is.” 


Ready for his answer, I asked, “What about the boy?”

“He’d be the man.”


But Tido*, a sophomore boy, completely disagrees with Noah and this subtle sexism.

“Sexism in our culture lets men do pretty much whatever they want, sexually. And women are the victims of that.”

These conflicting male opinions lead me to believe this isn’t all the boys’ fault. I’m sure some are proud of their conquests, but they can’t be the only ones at blame.

Girls are supposed to maintain this Virgin Mary image. We have to look and act innocent, but at the same time fulfill every want and need of boys. It’s suffocating to any teenage girl with raging hormones.

When does this battle of the sexes start? How many boys do I have to get with before I get called some offensive name?

Noah doesn’t really think it has to do with the number of partners or the extremity of the act. His reasoning behind all of this just compared the way boys and girls act in a sexual situation. It’s all for the thrill of the chase.

“You’re trying to get them to hook up or whatever. For girls you’re trying to hold back. When you get that, it’s cool. But it’s all a game.” And the girl always loses. 


So, next time you hear about a girl’s “shameful” weekend adventure, refrain from the judgmental words. And when some boy boasts about his incredible night of fun, hold off on the high fives, please.