Final answer:
The people of Cleo's town display a double standard, which creates unequal norms for men and women regarding sexual behavior, permitting men more freedom while imposing stricter modesty expectations on women.
Step-by-step explanation:
Cleo lives in a town where people display a double standard regarding sexual behavior. This term was defined by Ira Reiss, a pioneer in sexual studies, and refers to unequal social norms that are applied to men and women concerning premarital sexual activity. Historically, women have been expected to uphold higher standards of modesty and purity, with gendered expectations often dictating that they remain virgins until marriage. On the other hand, men are afforded more sexual freedom, at times with societal acceptance for having multiple sexual partners without commitment. Such double standards have been shown by research, including findings by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to lead to skewed statistics in the number of sexual partners men and women report having, with men typically having more.