The Sexual Double Standard in Spanish-Speaking Countries

What is it about?

The sexual double standard an attitude that regulates sexual interactions by implying the evaluation of sexuality with different standards for men and women. Currently, the importance of comparing this attitude across cultures is highlighted in order to understand the degree to which societal norms may influence gender inequalities in sexuality. With this aim, Ana Álvarez-Muelas, Carmen Gómez-Berrocal, Denisse Osorio, Hugo M. Noe-Grijalva and Juan Carlos Sierra have carried out the first cross-cultural study of the prevalence of the typologies of adherence to the double sexual standard (egalitarian, man-favorable, and woman-favorable) for two sexual behavior areas (sexual freedom and sexual shyness). This work has been published in Sexuality Research and Social Policy. The study examined the differences between Spain, Peru and Ecuador, as these Spanish-speaking countries show differences in the evaluation indexes of gender inequality: Spain has higher levels of equality and a narrower gender gap compared to Peru and Ecuador. A sample of 2,229 young people between 18 and 25 years of age answered the Spanish version of the Sexual Double Standard Scale. According to their scores, typologies of adherence to the double standard for sexual freedom and shyness were obtained. The results obtained showed differences in the prevalence of adherence typologies for sexual freedom and shyness between the three countries, both in the whole sample and in the sample of men and women separately. In general, the egalitarian typology was more prevalent in Spain, the man-favorable typology in Peru and Ecuador, and the woman-favorable typology in Ecuador. These findings seem to coincide with the evaluation of gender inequality and gender gap indicators. In other words, Spain, with a context where greater equality and a narrower gender gap prevail, presented a higher prevalence of the egalitarian sexual norm between men and women. In conclusion, this work evidences cross-cultural differences in the prevalence of sexual gender norms.

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Photo by Juan Manuel Núñez Méndez on Unsplash

Photo by Juan Manuel Núñez Méndez on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The findings suggest the importance of studying the role of culture-specific socio-structural conditions of men and women in understanding differences in the prevalence of sexual double standard norms.

Perspectives