Observation: | As my group was discussing the topic of relationships, we were also scanning through the text book in search of anything that peaked our interest or that just stood out to us. I saw the statement, "college males say physical attractiveness is the main criterion in deciding to have sexual intercourse, while women consider social and economic status when deciding to have sex with a man." After reading this I was disturbed and strongly disagreed with the statement. I immediately consulted the other groups members and engaged in discussion over the statement. I had always believed this to be true in the case of women in search of a relationship partner. But when it came down simply to just sex, I thought their criterion was the same as males for the most part. After engaging in discussion with the females in my group, I learned that their criterion was similar to males in terms of physical attraction, but they also took into account social status, not so much economic status as the text said. It made me think, do men also take into account social status? As class ended, I found this question still in my mind after I had went back to my room and I began to wonder some more. I came to the conclusion that men do take into account social status, indirectly. Women's social status is based primarily on their physical attraction. Think about it, most of those at the top of the social hierarchy are physically attractive. So a women's social status and physical attractiveness are cohesive. Therefore, men and women's criterion for sex is all most one in the same, if not the same. In a more self-analytic approach, I believe my emotions on the situation evolved from the widely used stereotype that men are shallow and women are more deep and intellectual. The statement from the book just seemed to concur with the stereotype and I disagree with both. So by me proving that the book was wrong, it was me unconsciously disproving the stereotype, defending my gender, and establishing equality in beliefs about the two sexes. |
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