As the media has always suggested, for the boys, having an active sex life is perfectly fine and it should even be their main pursuit. This is a pretty interesting sexist notion on its own. It's long been a myth that men think about sex several times per minute, while that's already been proven to be wrong: he thinks about it once or twice every hour, as often as he thinks about eating or sleeping. Moreover, it could very well be women don't think about sex (or report it) as often because it's not as socially acceptable for them to do so (so it's not exactly right when it's said that men and women think about it as often, either). In any case, men really aren't the sex-hungry types as movies and media all suggest they are. It's already become pretty clear that Grease is strong on that sex-hungry men stereotyping. However, how it portrays the woman's sex life is interesting as well. Rizzo, leader of the Pink Ladies, is slut-shamed into infinity throughout the movie - her behavior is mostly presented with a hint of disdain. She does it with any man at any time and throws every rationality out of the window just to do it ("sorry I didn't bring a condom - that's alright, we'll just do it anyway!"), which resulted in her thinking she was pregnant. Rizzo even sings an entire song how sleeping with all the boys is not a bad thing and there's definitely worse things she could do: There are worse things I could do than go with a boy or twoEven though the neighborhood thinks I'm trashy and no goodI suppose it could be true but there are worse things I could do [...] I could stay home every night wait around for Mr. RightTake cold showers every day and throw my life awayOn a dream that won't come true But see? It's still her dream to have a Mr. Right. Even if she thinks it won't come true. On the other hand, Rizzo is the biggest virgin-shamer there is. Earlier in the movie, she initiates the song Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee, a most horrible virgin-shaming song: http://youtu.be/UVrBl368VGY What's worse: being a slut or being a virgin? At first it seems Grease doesn't have a clear-cut message on it. However, once you add up all the instances it discusses sluts and virgins, in the end it still comes down to one single message: women should be sexually available to men, but don't be a slut. Being a slut is bad. The concluding act of the movie shows Sandy and Danny together when Sandy has finally completed her transformation into the sexually available woman that she supposedly ought to be to finally get Danny, the symbol of masculinity. Sandy's not a virgin, but not a slut either, and then, the film concludes with the song that says they'll be together, forever, because that's the way it should be. But don't forget, kids: Thanks for these great lessons in life, Grease. What do you think about the sexism in Grease? Is Grease just old-fashioned in its ideas - even if it's still popular?
