He's a Stud, She's a Slut, and 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know

Double standards are nothing new. Women deal with them every day. Take the common truism that women who sleep around are sluts while men are studs. Why is it that men grow distinguished and sexily gray as they age while women just get saggy and haggard? Have you ever wondered how a young woman is supposed to both virginal and provocatively enticing at the same time? Isn’t it unfair that working moms are labeled “bad” for focusing on their careers while we shake our heads in disbelief when we hear about the occasional stay-at-home dad?

In He's a Stud, She's a Slut, and 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know, Jessica Valenti, author of Full Frontal Feminism, calls out the double standards that affect every woman. Whether Jessica is pointing out the wage earning discrepancies between men and women or revealing all of the places that women still aren’t equal to their male counterparts—be it in the workplace, courtroom, bedroom, or home—she maintains her signature wittily sarcastic tone. With sass, humor, and in-your-face facts, this book informs and equips women with the tools they need to combat sexist comments, topple ridiculous stereotypes (girls aren’t good at math?), and end the

Customer Reviews:

REALLY good stuff!

By WichacpiHoskila - May 22, 2008

I'm not being sarcastic at all--I'm a male reader, and I found this book to be REALLY insightful stuff. I also found double-standard #51: that these are double standards that WOMEN should know. Shouldn't men know these too? I mean, I'm trying to raise my two sons with better insights than the blueprint for sexist privilege they are being handed to them every darned DAY, and I want them to see past it. So right there in the title--BAM!--another unintended double-standard. This stuff's just as integral for men to consider.

Jessica Valenti's writing style is snappy, fun to read, and yet very good at disturbing the reader with insights that are dead-on but easily overlooked in our culture. I've followed the feministing website (which Jessica Valenti contributes to) for some time now, and I am constantly fascinated by the sheer amount of research and information that they find. I'm also disheartened by how often her work is dismissed as "thought police" or "hysteria"--but then,... read more

Not Just For Girls

By Toni R. Tatro - August 9, 2008

Despite what you may think, this book doesn't just focus on double standards where women get the short end of the stick. It also talks about the crap these double standards cause men. The only critism I can think of is that #46 "He's Childless, She's Selfish" had a title that was misleading. I thought it was going to talk about how childfree women are considered selfish because apparently having kids is the only way women can contribute to society, society doesn't think twice about childfree men. Instead it talked about how single mothers are "selfish." While I agree what she was talking about there, I thought the title was misleading and she should have touched on childfree women as well.

Must read for anyone who notices the "differences" between the sexes

By Alik - April 30, 2008

He's a Stud, She's a Slut was worth the wait. I think Valenti did a much better job with this book than with Full Frontal Feminism and this new book is a lot more approachable for women and men of all ages. Valenti does cover a lot of the more obvious double standards but she also sheds some light on some more pervasive attacks against women and details how some thing which on the surface seemed more geared towards attacking men, also set some unattainable standards for women.

The only real problem I have with this book is the "So... What to do?" section at the end of every chapter basically boils down to "Stop _____. Seriously." I think Valenti could have put more practical solutions to these everyday problems or put in more resources that have some ideas for solutions.

Overall He's a Stud, She's a Slut is great take on sexism and I'll be passing it around to all my friends.