We are talking about “ Don Juan to designate a seductive man. But for her, it will be “whore”. He is a “heartthrob”, but she, a “bitch”. The man has “needs”, while the woman must “respect herself”. Why do we use different words in the area of sex? Indulgent, even flattering, for men, and pejorative for women?
This is a mechanism of double sexual morality, and translates into our language, and our societies, the domination of men over women. A domination resulting from “centuries of patriarchy, discrimination and painful stereotypes which have created a gap between the sexes”, in the words of Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, last March.
Double sexual morality between men and women
For decades, feminist and historian Florence Montreynaud has been fighting for a less violent and fairer world between women and men. A feminist involved in the Women’s Movement since 1971, co-founder of Les Chiennes de garde and Zéromacho, she has published numerous books, including the latest Women are sluts, men are don Juans, sexism, sexual double morality and elements of languagepublished by La practical Hachette house (22 euro).
In this essay, she develops, based on numerous examples, the double sexual morality at work, before outlining solutions for a fairer society. Florence Montreynaud is the guest of this episode of our audio meeting ” Everything is explained », to explain how language, our everyday words, are imbued with sexism. And draw, word by word, an evolution of our language. Enjoy listening to this episode, in the audio player above!
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