The original sexual double standard
rewarded men for their sexual experience and penalized women for the same behavior (Crawford
& Popp, 2003). Women were seen negatively for participating in any sexual activity outside of
marriage (Crawford & Popp, 2003). If women participated in premarital sex, they were seen as
promiscuous and easy (Crawford & Popp, 2003). One of the early studies conducted by Reiss
(1964) found that
a significant number of college men considered premarital sex acceptable for
males but not acceptable for females.