Guys vs. Girls

I had English Lit class today and we were discussing the character of Brett in Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. So of course the discussion leads to the topic of why women are viewed as sluts when they sleep around and men are hailed as the conquering heroes of the nubile virgins. Correct? IMO? Not true.

I think, in today's media and with the opinion of many of my peers women who sleep around are not viewed as negatively as they once were. And the girls who are 'saving' themselves are mocked. A fellow student of mine made a comment a few weeks ago that she had never engaged in anything 'serious' in a relationship.... my response? A very shocked and dumbfounded expression, you don't get many of these girls in college anymore. Not that there's anything wrong with her, mind you. It's just that I found it to be very strange indeed.

I think that at my age it's likely that girls have had numerous lovers and no one is looking at them and thinking "those sluts..." the same with guys. I think the negative connotation can go both ways and depends entirely on how the guy or girl treats themselves. In other words, no one will think badly of what you have done unless you think badly about what you have done.

It kind of makes me wonder, are we all just manifestations of our own self image?