Written
By: C. Michael Smith
As
far as safe sex is concerned, when you sleep with someone, you
are not just sleeping with that one person. You are also sleeping
with everyone they have slept with, and everyone they have slept
with, and so on and so forth. Let’s examine this a bit closer.
On
average, females sleep with 7-10 partners in their lifetime. On
average, males sleep with 13-15 partners in their lifetime.*
*MY
STANDARD STATISTICS DISCLAIMER:
Statistics are great fun and can be very informative, but just
be sure to keep them in the proper perspective, ok? The fact of
the matter is that there is a large range of behaviors and activities
that can be considered “normal”, even if they are not
the statistical norm. Don’t use statistics as a measuring
tool with which to gauge yourself or your performance. Keep in
mind that for any given average, there have to be numbers that
are higher and lower than the average, for it to be called an
average. No one is average across the board. Keep in mind that
the statistically average person has one testicle and half of
a vagina. What’s “normal” or “average”
for one person may not be normal or average for everyone.
IF
YOU ARE FEMALE:
Let’s first examine the sex degrees of separation from the
point of view of a female sleeping with male partners.
When
you sleep with a male partner, you are also “sleeping with”
the 14 other ladies he has slept with, on average. This assumes
you are his last partner. The other 14 ladies he has slept with
have in turn slept with 10 partners each, on average. So far in
this analysis, he could carry the sexual history of 140 people,
if you do the math.
If
you multiply these 140 people by the 10 male partners that you
will statistically have, on average, in your lifetime, then you
have “slept with” 1400 people at this point in the analysis.
Now, I’m not going to keep going and keep going, but the
numbers DO keep going, and as you can see, they get large very
quickly.
IF
YOU ARE MALE:
Now, let’s examine the sex degrees of separation from the
male point of view and let’s assume you sleep with female
partners.
When
you sleep with a female partner, you are also “sleeping with”
the 9 other guys that she has slept with, on average. This assumes
you are her last partner. The other 9 guys she has slept with
have in turn slept with 15 partners each, on average. So far in
this analysis, she could carry the sexual history of 135 people,
if you do the math.
If
you multiply these 135 people by the 15 partners that you will
statistically have, on average, in your lifetime, then you have
“slept with” 2025 people at this point in the analysis.
Again, I’m not going to keep going, but the numbers do keep
going, and again you see that they get large very quickly.
CONCLUSION:
The purpose of this analysis is to attempt to offer compelling
evidence on why safe sex is so important. Often, I believe we
only think about the one person we are sleeping with and not the
bigger picture of all that’s involved in one’s sexual
history. The fact is that STDs are real and they are increasingly
popular. All it takes is for one person in your sex degrees of
separation to become infected and if the right chain-of-events
occur in the right order, you could become infected, too. Play
hard, but please play safe!
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