Many discussions around here focus on "double standards", most recently CMV: Women want "equality" while being held to the sexist standards for responsibility and/or punishment, not actual equality.

What is a double standard?

a set of principles that applies differently and usually more rigorously to one group of people or circumstances than to another; especially : a code of morals that applies more severe standards of sexual behavior to women than to men

A rule or principle which is unfairly applied in different ways to different people or groups: ‘the double standards employed to deal with ordinary people and those in the City’

tl;dr: Different standards for different groups.

Now, why would it make sense to have different standards for different groups? Here are some examples:

  1. An adult is allowed to drink alcohol. A child is not. This is a blatant double standard! However, we recognize that it makes sense, as children's frontal lobes aren't fully formed and they might have difficulties dealing with alcohol and might make bad decisions.

  2. A dog waggles its tail when it is happy. A cat waggles its tail when it is tense. So we would be wise to treat dogs and cats that waggle their tails differently. It is a blatant double standard, however, it makes sense.

  3. Now, relevant to this sub, the good ol' stud/slut debate: A man with many sexual partners is seen in high regard, while a women sleeping with many men is looked down upon. It is a blatant double standard, however, it makes sense: Men want sex more often than women and with more different partners, so naturally some men are going to lose out. The men who get the sex must be doing something right. As men are mostly ready for sex, women who have many different partners aren't doing anything special, just saying 'yes'.

So the question isn't whether something is a double standard or not. Double standards might be perfectly fine. Can you think of other double standards that are okay and some that are not?