All over social media, I see post after post of women complaining about the unrealistic beauty ideals that society puts on women, and the double standards we suffer when it comes to making certain decisions, especially regarding sex and promiscuity. This is fine. It's what social media is for. These are serious issues that need to be addressed. But, the problem is, men deal with a lot of the same issues, and no one ever acknowledges it.

"If he isn't over 6 feet with nice abs, he has no chance."

"Guys only want one thing."

"Men are all the same."

Why is it that the double standards men suffer don't receive the same publicity on social media? I am really not sure. But, I do know the solution circles back to one of the most important lessons we learned as a kid, the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated. The bottom line is, we don't want to be treated this way, so why do we treat men like this? I really don't want to believe that the entire female population, myself included, has malicious intentions (and we probably don't); however, intentions aside, we have to admit to our bad habits and realize that this affects men the same way double standards affect us. Here are some of the biggest issues I've noticed men are facing.

1. The term "fuckboy"

I don't even know where to start. I hate this word so much. I have no idea who started this trend but it's literally all I ever hear, and I think it might single-handedly be my biggest pet peeve at the current moment. Let's think about what it means. Okay, so the boy has a lot of sex? He's a human being with free will, and it's his right to decide what he wants to do with his body. Isn't that pretty much the basis of every feminist movement right now (abortion, anti-slut-shaming, etc.)? Fighting every day for the right to make decisions and not be labeled for them, then turning around and calling every boy who sleeps around or lies to you a "fuckboy" makes us all hypocrites. Yes, maybe their actions are wrong or you don't agree with them, but no one wants to be negatively labeled like that, especially women. Women have an issue if a guy calls them a "slut" or a "whore," but then women turn around with a phrase with the exact same implication thinking it's okay. It's not. It's equally as mean and prejudiced, and men feel equally as judged by such a dumb label. Either we all decide to stop labeling each other for our decisions, or we all just run around calling each other sluts and fuckboys, but one of the two has to happen because as it is now, it's completely unfair.

2. Unrealistic beauty ideals

Let's admit it, ladies: Guys deal with them, too. And, it's not totally our fault: the media plays just as big a role in setting unrealistic standards for men as it does for women, but we definitely play our part in it. The starring roles in movies are most prominently attractive men in good shape with nice bodies, and the models featured on the covers of magazines and in commercials have airbrushed abs sculpted by a computer cursor, not hard work or crunches. From the media, men are faced with the same types of unrealistic expectations that women face, especially when it comes to physical appearance and fitness. Then, these ideals are solely reinforced by us. For example, women think it's okay to post things on Twitter about how they ONLY consider "guys over six feet" or "guys with nice abs," but the second a dude admits to preferring "big boobs" or "short girls" or "skinny girls", they're superficial. Like, okay, maybe so, but what does that make us, then? Guess that makes us all superficial, then. We are all entitled to like what we like. But, to put it in words like that and plaster it all over social media just reinforces the issues of beauty standards we're all trying to overcome. The media, especially TV and music, make it hard enough on us to feel good enough. We should be supporting each other, not making it harder.

3. Saying things like "Guys only want one thing" and "All men are the same"

This is more of an expression than anything, but still, expressions like this are what create the stigma that affects how men and woman are viewed by society, as well as how they view themselves. Women hate when men say things like, "all women are crazy," or "women are too emotional," so what makes it okay to turn around and do the same thing? All men are NOT the same, just like all women are NOT the same. Every single one of us is a different combination of good and bad traits, and to be labeled and categorized solely for the bad ones is simply wrong. And it's equally wrong if a few guys solely wanted sex from you and nothing more, to extend that generalization to the entire male population. We wouldn't like it very much if men did it to us, so why do we do it to them?

I'm in no way trying to distance myself from the female population: I'm right there with you. I still fall victim to these bad habits sometimes. Society and the media makes it VERY easy to do so, but ever since I've realized these things I've been making an effort to catch myself before I speak, and my hope is that after reading this we can all make steps in that same direction. WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE who are worthy of dignity and respect, and no matter how tall or short or in shape or out-of-shape you are, you're exactly what someone, somewhere in the world wants. And besides, it's more important that YOU accept yourself first, so others can, too. So, let's just all accept and celebrate each other's differences.