Sex factoid of the week: Men are bigger tramps than women.
July 11th, 2007 by HeywoodI’m not being mean. It’s true. A recent study by the National Center for Health Statistics found that “29% of American men report having 15 or more female sexual partners in a lifetime, while only 9% of women report having sex with 15 or more men.” (My question: who cares?)
The study used “high-tech methods” (i.e., people answered the survey questions on a computer instead of in face-to-face interviews) to “solicit candid answers.” In other words, to keep people from lying, because your average co-ed isn’t going to admit to some researcher that she had sex with 23 guys named Biff last Spring Break.
Personally–and NO, I’m not going to tell you where I fall–I think there’s a major flaw here. (You know, ‘cuz I’m such an sociologist, having written 3 books on sex.) The data was collected from 6,237 adults aged 20 to 59. Now, isn’t there a higher probability that a 50-year-old San Franciscan will have had more sexual partners than a 20-year-old in the Bible Belt? I’m just saying.
Other factoids from the survey:
- 96% of adults in the U.S. have had sex. Some of them make up for the other 4%, and then some. You know who you are.
- 17% of men and 10% of women have had two or more partners in the past year. These people are also known as “divorcees.”
- 25% of women and 17% of men have had no more than one partner of the opposite sex. Ever. Just thinking of all the bad sex these folks have missed makes me want to weep.
The survey doesn’t take into account marital status or geographical location. And it didn’t include the homeless, prison inmates or other “institutionalized adults.” Draw your own conclusions. I’m afraid to.
July 11th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
How about comparing a 20 year old from San Francisco, and a 59 year old from the Bible Belt?
I take hot and heavy from the South, definitely.
She knows how to cook.
July 11th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
The operative word: “29% of men ‘report’ having 15 or more . . .”
The real number is actually something like 17%, and the other 12% just tell everyone they’ve slept with more than 15.
Oddly enough, I think the stats for teen pregnancy and STDs are about the same (or more) in the Bible Belt as in the rest of the country, despite “save yourself till you’re married” movements.
July 11th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Actually, this means that (some) women are bigger tramps than (most) men. I figure that the *mean* number of partners should be the same for women and for men. The lower median for women means that the distribution is skewed by some women that have lots and lots of sex partners.
July 26th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
As I noted on Isabel’s blog, it could be exactly the opposite. Either most women have fewer partners and a few have many more, while the male distribution is more uniform, or the reverse: the female distribution is more uniform and some men have very few partners, while most have more.
I personally would guess this explanation is more likely, but they are symmetrical, so either works.
June 3rd, 2009 at 4:43 pm
I think one cup of coffee is alright for those who are pregnant. My doctor said that as long as you don�t consume more than 3 cups, it�s tolerable.