CARNAL NATION

One of the standard assumptions of modern gender theory is the stud-slut divide: men can fuck around with absolute impunity, even being admired for their virility; women who do the same thing are sluts. A Canadian study, however, shows some gray areas in the traditional dichotomy. Men, according to the study published in the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, found that men often have less “sexual latitude” than women, and feel more constrained in the behaviors that they can experiment with. According to the study, societal pressures inhibit men from showing disinterest in sex, taking on submissive roles in bed, or indulging in homosexual fantasies. In short, men are expected to be more constantly sexual than women, but restrict their sexual activities to a narrower range of activities. Alex McCay, the research coordinator for the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada described the implications of the study: "The double standard used to give men more sexual freedom than women, but these findings indicate that the dynamic is changing" he said. "Men are forced to abide by a certain gender role, while women are today more free to be themselves. In this sense, the standard actually works against the man."

It’s important to note that the study’s sample is both numerically small and demographically narrow: it surveyed 104 undergraduate psychology students about 33 behaviors, so its conclusions are inherently limited. But if you’ve been watching sexual politics for the last twenty years, with sex blogs and erotica collections expanding the cultural depictions of female sexuality, you can see that old polarities have blurred quite a bit. There’s probably much more room to explore what the Canadian study, with its tiny sample, is just beginning to hint at.