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 STD’s 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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