Dave Benett
However this time, it is the considered Sophie shifting on ‘too shortly’ with one other man after the breakdown of her relationship, as if she ought to stay in a interval of chastity and mourning till her divorce is finalised and he or she’s legally allowed to train her sexual autonomy once more – however not an excessive amount of, thoughts.
It is a sexist ritual we have seen play out repeatedly with rebound relationships: the ladies are labelled ‘nasty’, ‘loopy’ and ‘sluts’; whereas the lads are painted as desolate wounded souls, harmless victims of the lady’s rampant promiscuity. They’re those flooded with help and actively inspired to maneuver on. If Joe was the one reportedly shifting on post-split, do you assume he’d be receiving the identical backlash? If historical past is something to go by (Miley and Liam, anybody?), I feel not.
In actual fact, males – well-known or in any other case – are hardly ever demonised for shifting from one sexual companion to a different (to a different). The extra stunning ladies they hook up with, the higher. When ladies do it, we’re slut-shamed. We’re whores, cheaters, horrible moms, the rationale the connection broke down. We’re the issue. In Sophie’s case, this is not simply occurring in non-public WhatsApp chats, however throughout the web. I can not think about how invasive and unsettling that should really feel.
Let’s not overlook that although Sophie and Joe could have lived their relationship in very public area, we do not know what occurred of their marriage or the the explanation why it broke down, and we’re not entitled to know, both. It is fairly actually none of our enterprise. Neither is who they select to shack up with afterwards.
Is not it time we moved previous the deeply misogynistic slut-shaming and simply settle for that ladies are allowed to maneuver on nonetheless shortly they like after a break-up? As an alternative of calling Sophie a home-wrecker, let’s name her what she is: a grown girl free to make her personal rattling choices.