thoughts on double standards...

I really like Kristin and Maddy's posts from last week--they nicely express the double standard and the way in which we buy into it. Something to think about--given the pervasiveness of explicit images of sex and sexuality in our culture, it is certain that the people offering these unfair judgments indulge in or approve of pornographic/explicit depictions of sex and sexuality. So, we (they) readily approve of the consumption of explicit sex and sexuality, but we (they) object to actual women seeking pleasure in actual sex (or, for that matter, men seeking emotional solace in the same).

How can this be? One thought is that we (they) don't see depictions of sex and sexuality as really real sex. If so, then what ARE they? And how do we counteract either unsettling observation?