The idea that women should be allowed to choose what they do with their bodies is pretty alien to a lot of people. Suggesting that a woman can decide what she does with her sexuality is almost like saying I’m going to make one million dollars by midnight –insanity. After all, it was only around the 1960’s when a woman showing any skin above the ankle area became socially acceptable, seems crazy right? Look how far we’ve come now.
When I say sexuality, it’s instinctive to assume I mean the sexuality in terms of what gender you’re attracted to, which is very closely related, but in this case I am speaking of a woman’s right to have as much or as little sex as she pleases. Immediately you may think of the provocative, arousing end of the spectrum –a woman who likes to have sex. However, sexuality is a large scale, and it’s completely up to the woman herself to decide where she lies on this spectrum. The subject of sexuality is actually extremely subjective, and it can be defined in hundreds of different ways. One woman’s expression of her sexuality may be her choice to have sex with multiple partners (which is completely acceptable). Where as another woman’s expression of sexuality may be to have sex with one individual partner (also completely acceptable).
What I’ve noticed most frequently is a never-ending war for women. There’s a fine line between “sexy” and “slutty” or “prude” and “easy”. Especially when the whole “cat and mouse” routine occurs in the lead up to sexual intercourse. What this means is if two people (mainly a woman and a man) are attracted to each other, to keep it interesting there has to be a “chase”. I can’t one hundred per cent disagree with this, it’s always fun to make each other work a little bit harder to gain each other’s affection. However, it always seems to be women who get the short end of the deal. If a woman gives in too easy she’s immediately “easy”, but if she takes her time she’s a “prude” and/or “bitch.” Either way, women can’t win.
On top of all of this, when a woman is labelled by society as one of the above, it seems the rest of her life is limited too. Society says if a woman decides to take her clothes off for different partners then she can’t be intelligent, can’t hold a man down, can’t raise a family and she’s “asking for it.” On the other hand, if a woman decides to have one single lover she’s conservative, dull, not very arousing. Examples such as Maya Angelou say otherwise though. Angelou, as we all know, is a very intelligent, very articulate and innovative woman. But a little fact people choose to ignore about Angelou is that she was a prostitute, in fact a lot of her poem inspiration is taken from her experience as a stripper. Another example is our current first lady, Michelle Obama. Words cannot describe her intelligence –a Harvard graduate- passion and adoration for her husband, President Barack Obama. However, she is gorgeous, sexy and never fails to stun her audiences with her designer gowns and beauty. So there we have it, two women, with two completely different walks of life but with an equal amount of power, presence, authority and sexuality, and they are/were never afraid to show it.
**Side note, rest in peace to the astounding Maya Angelou, her poetry was the springboard to my love for writing**
The point I’m trying to make here is we can’t limit a woman’s sexuality or put it into a labelled category because every woman is different with how they handle themselves and their sexual expression. The double standards we put upon women are unrealistic and very jaded. Here’s hoping we advance into the second half of 2016 continuing to spread these modern ideas about sexuality and a woman’s right to express her own.
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