Illustration by Genevieve Griffin.
Sarah Irby, Editor in Chief~
Have you ever lied about your body count? No, I don’t mean the number of people you’ve killed (obviously), but rather the number of people you’ve slept with.
For some reason, people still concern themselves with this number when it comes to a potential partner. If your number is too high, you’re a whore; if your number is too low, you’re a prude. The definition of high and low in this context is, of course, subjective. One person may believe that seven is way too many, and another may believe seven is next to nothing.
To my knowledge, it’s mainly only women who are judged by these standards, both by men and other women. We’ve grown up being taught that no man will want us as a wife if we have slept with too many people, but there’s a double standard here, because most men can sleep with however many people they want without getting any flack.
There are women who don’t want to increase their body count, because they don’t want to be labelled and shamed, and for some reason there are still countries where a man’s honor is judged by his sister or daughter’s chastity. Why, in 2017, are our bodies still not granted total freedom?
The fact that we are expected to hide ourselves and our inner desires is ludicrous. Is a man intimidated when a woman is just as sexually carefree, and open about it, as he is? Am I supposed to feel ashamed because I enjoy sex too (and rightfully so)? Or am I supposed to just pretend that my body exists only to please my partner?
Someone will almost always try to make you feel guilty by asking you the body count question, whether it be by insinuating that you’re easy or by making it all about him or herself as if the number of people you’ve been with is somehow a personal affront.
Here’s a suggestion: How about we all mind our own business when it comes to how many people we’ve all boned. Personally, I could care less if you’ve have sex with zero or 100 people. As long as people are being responsible, they should be able to do whoever they want, whenever they want.
So go ahead and proudly add another notch to your bedpost.
