Thursday, October 21

day 10185: what’s in a number?

An episode of sex, toys and chocolate caught my attention the other night as I attempted to channel-surf my way out of boredom. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this little Discovery Channel tidbit, the format is simple – coffee house style discussions about the sex topic of the day… very informal, very light hearted, very honest… and very, very eye-opening.

Very eye-opening. Especially for a prude like me, and especially because the topic a la carte was promiscuity.

They discussed numbers; first the women by themselves, then the men, then the women and the men together.

Surprise, surprise, the men had numbers like 25, or “under 50,” or the guy (who honestly only looked 25) interviewed in Miami who had “200.” They had stats that detailed how many women they juggled at once, how many different ones in a day, how many they’ll actually admit to a woman they’re in a relationship with, etc.

I couldn’t help but think… ew… men are slime.

But the real surprise was the women. They didn’t even know… Sometimes, they didn’t even know the guy’s name (or at least his real name). To them, it was the adrenaline of going home with a stranger, the experience. The conquest…

Wow… okay. omg sluts… where did they find these girls… ew yuck…

I must be the world’s biggest prude or something. I must have assumed that all women are like me, and that sex is a personal act that means something. I must be deluding myself that it means something to the other person, because quite obviously in a lot of situations, it doesn’t mean a thing.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how different my thoughts and beliefs were from the North American mainstream. Maybe it’s the Asian background, maybe it’s the lack of experience… maybe it’s the influence of the friends I keep or whatever. Or maybe it’s just me.

Admittedly, the situations on the show might be a little extreme given that they were trying to make a point. But really, with shows like Sex and the City, this one, and the whole slew of other ones out there, I think not. I think that somehow, it’s becoming more and more acceptable, and that people are just becoming more and more promiscuous.

And then I wondered if I’d ever be that way. And laughed at myself. I want to think not.

1 comment:

teahouse said...

I suspect that some people may be prone to slight exaggeration when other people are listening, like when they're on tv.

I for one don't think it's "cool" to brag about how many people I've slept with. And the greatest deterrent to promiscuity is probably STDs. Did you know that we still don't have a comprehensive plan for preventing the spread of the human papilloma virus? Not to mention herpes. Both of these can still be transmitted even with the use of condoms.