Bedpartners
Last week the first episode of ‘The Slut Show With Ellen Moore’ aired. My co-host Yrsa Maria and myself opened up about how insecurities play a role in our (sex) lives, how we overcame some of them and how we still struggle with others. Today we are breaking open the world of slut shaming, by publicly speaking up about the amount of bedpartners we have. Wondering if we actually say how many? No - it is not a clickbait title. Yes - we say so. So to all my bedpartners: here is the truth.
“Why would you tell people how many bedpartners you have?” Well, because I, because we (Yrsa and myself) feel the strong need to take back power over our own bodies and that I like doing by doing not only whatever, but more importantly whoever I want.
I’ve previously mentioned that as a journalist I find it extremely important to stick to facts, which is exactly why I created the segment ‘Slutty Science With Ellen Moore’. In hopes to not only entertain you with The Slut Show, but also to learn you something new with every episode. So what’s on the menu for this week? Juicy facts and Slutty Science.
Adolescence has shown to be a key stage for forming knowledge and attitudes about sex, contraception and reproduction. Especially because that knowledge forms the basis of your sexual behavior as an adult. So basically, fucking around in your younger years makes you a different person than you would be if you were to have sex with only one person, in your entire life - obviously. If that amount has influence on your personal worth, that’s up for debate.
What is undebatable and undeniably true however, is that there are visible gender differences. Those gender differences are shown not only in experiences, but also in the social pressure experienced. Those experiences with sex and peer pressure, have an effect on the development of your personality traits and behaviors, in regards to sex, as an adult.
All genders of adolescents who like(d) to hook up in their teens and twenties, are likely to also have more different sexual partners over the course of their lifetime. The assumption is often made that people who had a ‘wild’ (however that may be defined) sex life with a lot of casual sexual-encounters, are more likely to have ‘partied’ it out and become more conservative in the long run. However, the opposite seems true. Those ‘wild’ adolescents, were actually more likely to have multiple sexual partners at the same time in adulthood. A leopard can’t change its spots.
Knowledge builds confidence. Greater birth control-confidence among young women can therefore be linked to more sexual partners over the course of a lifetime (in comparison to the way it would have been, if there would have been a lack of birth control-confidence).
It is plausible to state that more and better sex-education, breaking down taboos and speaking openly about female sexuality will all lead to more bedpartners amongst women.
For men a similar thing goes, because men who were more knowledgeable about condoms during adolescence, have also been shown to be more likely to have multiple different sexual partners at the same time in both adolescence and adulthood.
Perceptions of high social costs to sex in adolescence, will logically lead to fewer lifetime sexual partners, because what broke student wants to spend hundreds of euros, dollars or pounds to, well, anything? Yeah, none.
Fear amongst young women of getting sexually transmitted infections, but also considering those infections to be a hassle to avoid - during adolescence - were less likely to have multiple sexual partners at the same time as adults.
Studies have shown that females approaching the typical age of menopause became more likely to have sex with a partner, before being in a relationship with that partner. However after that age women go back to being more likely to return to earlier levels of commitment. These findings suggest that single females approaching that age of menopause alter their behavior to achieve reproductively relevant partnering goals. However as soon as this typical reproductive period has ended, they abandon that strategy, because it is biologically no longer required.
Less strong, but similar evidence is shown in males.
Concluding this week's Slutty Science:
Yes, the biological clock is an actual thing.
Yes, feminism is still necessary, because men and women are treated differently when showing similar sexual behavior. Meaning females have not yet been freed from slut-shaming, peer-pressure and stereotypes.
And once a slut, always a slut.
Interested in hearing more? You can now watch the full episode of The Slut Show on YouTube or listen to it on your favorite podcast platform- now also on Apple Podcasts & Spotify! Either way make sure to subscribe and turn on the notification bell, to get notified of new uploads.
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We hope to see you on our socials and for now, Sluts Out!
Lots of love,
Sources
- Cohen, S. E., Todd, P. M., Kruschke, J. K., Garcia, J. R., & Fisher, H. E. (2019). Singles of both sexes expedite reproduction: Shifts in sexual-timing strategies before and after the typical age of female menopause. Evolution and Human Behavior, 40(6), 557–569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2019.08.001
- Cohen, S., Fisher, H., Todd, P., Garcia, J., & Kruschke, J. (2019). Data for: Singles of Both Sexes Expedite Reproduction: Shifts in Sexual-Timing Strategies Before and After The Typical Age of Female Menopause. Mendely.com. https://doi.org/10.17632/g2wcp2bsk7.1
- Guzzo, K. B., Lang, V. W., & Hayford, S. R. (2020). Do Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Attitudes and Knowledge Predict Men and Women’s Adult Sexual Partnerships? Journal of Adolescent Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.05.035