The latest Kardashian drama is proof we treat men and women differently

Last week, Jordyn Woods, aka Kylie Jenner’s best friend, was allegedly caught making out with Khloe Kardashian’s boyfriend and baby daddy, Tristan Thompson. The scandal has many people calling Woods out for being a bad friend to both Jenner and Kardashian. If the scandal rings true, she might be up for the "worst best friend award", but it seems to me that in these types of situations, the mistress always gets more bad publicity. A boys-will-be-boys mentality normalizes cheating for men in committed relationships. This puts a lot of the blame on the female “homewrecker,” a derogatory term used to describe a woman as being the cause for breaking up a family. Also, the stereotype of women as caring, family-oriented individuals creates this idea they are worse than their cheating counterpart because they are supposed to be keeping families together. Both parties are to blame, but it seems that the woman gets more misgivings than the one who let the woman in.

In the case of the Thompson-Woods scandal, Woods has been receiving most of the heat. The majority of the narrative has questioned how Woods could have done such a betrayal. The sense of public anger comes from the existence of her close friendship with Jenner, who is Kardashian’s half-sister. Some think Woods is more in the wrong because she is a family friend and knows how much Kardashian struggled to date Thompson.

Of course, no one wants their best friend to make out with their half-sister’s daughter’s father. I am not here to label who is in the wrong but rather here to analyze this sticky situation as it brings to light the difference in attitude we have for who is doing the cheating.

Not as many jokes, tweets and backlash have been targeted toward the basketball player and father of True Thompson, Kardashian and Thompson’s 10-month-old child. Woods has seen an onslaught from social media criticizing her actions. Tweets have expressed that this outcome seems obvious to the outsider looking in. Because Thompson has been caught in a cheating scandal before, it seems we are left to ask: “What else could we expect? He’s a cheater, so we shouldn’t really be surprised.” But this thinking is troublesome to those who value monogamy in relationships.

Not only is it unfair to put more blame on one party than another, but if we normalize cheating, we set the bar low for relationships. Apparently, Thompson doesn’t care too much about the scandal. He can’t even bother to come up with an explanation for it. Thompson has allegedly gotten away with cheating throughout his and Kardashian’s relationship. Because he isn’t getting as much backlash for it, it must not mean as much. This is not the same case for Woods. Although they both did the same wrongful act, Woods gets the heat. She has been cut off from her best friend and Jenner’s family. But when Thompson cheated the first time, Kardashian forgave him and tried to move on for the sake of their daughter.

It seems unfair that Woods right off the bat gets cut out of the family picture. What happened to “you may forgive but never forgetting is impossible,” Kardashian? What makes Woods so much worse than Thompson that she shouldn’t get the same chance at forgiveness that Kardashian gave Thompson?

Rumor has it Jenner kicked Woods out of her house. How do you choose your best friend over your sister? Answer: You don’t. I hope Kardashian, Jenner and Woods figure a way to reconcile because they've been friends for so long. If Kardashian gave Thompson a second chance after he was first caught cheating with multiple women while Kardashian was in the last few weeks of her pregnancy with his baby, then Woods deserves a second chance as well.

Jackie DeFreitas is a UF journalism junior. Her column normally appears on Wednesdays.

This combination photo shows TV personality Khloe Kardashian at the NBCUniversal Network 2017 Upfront in New York on May 15, 2017, left, and Cleveland Cavaliers' Tristan Thompson during an NBA basketball practice in Oakland, Calif., on May 30, 2018. Kardashian and Thompson have a nearly one-year-old daughter named True. (AP Photo)