The dichotomy of a slag/angel and gendered ‘sexual double standards’ is a challenging dilemma for young women from the standpoint of their attitudinal understanding and experiences. These women face the everyday complexity of the deconstruction of female sexuality, specifically, the contradictory constructions of femininity that promote sexual allure, while also asserting control over female sexuality. The ‘doing of sex’ for young women ignites a web of controversy and dilemma, often placing them in an impossible position. Young women demonstrate both a challenging and condoning attitude towards the double morality of the differential labelling of young women's and men's expected sexual behaviours.

The practice of slut shaming (Ringrose and Renold, 2012) and the derogatory labelling of young women stigmatise them, while labels on young men as ‘lads’ promote their sexual agency (Fjaer et al, 2015). Social norms of gender and the image of a slut limit the role of young women to be ‘passive’, in particular, around their sexual identity and desires. The challenge faced by these women is of negotiating a female identity, with shifting appropriateness dictated by the requirement to be virginal, while also being available to sexually please the opposite sex. Continuously, young women are subjected to a ‘double standard’, whereby sexually active young men are labelled as the ‘norm’, and sexually active young women are stigmatised. As stated by Hird and Jackson, ‘Young women, as “gatekeepers” of heterosexual relations, must negotiate complex and contradictory discourses that penalise membership in both “sluts” and “angel” categories’ (2001, p 35). Young women are placed on a tightrope in order to negotiate this binary of the angel/slut, which can often impact on their identity and emotional well-being.

The young women interviewed revealed the constant pressure on them to perform the overt sexual role, often being judged as a ‘slag/slut’ by their peers and the wider community. However, despite acknowledgement by young women that this is problematic and an unfair label, this is also perpetuated by these women themselves.