If that were true about South Florida, the STD rates would be much higher.

How do you know it is normal for South Florida? While growing up there, I knew of a few people who were like that but the majority...no.

If, as cashmoney implies, the rate of sexual activity approaches, or exceeds, an increase by an order of a magnitude, then there will be metrics to back up his claims. Look up the STD rates. Also, there are probably statistics on abortions as well.

Emily Post actually has a section about the Sex Talk. I'll look at it, and if she has something about the Magic Number, I'll bring it to our discussion.

Dude, you need to email that quote to "The Man Show" and make a bunch of $$$ when they put it on t-shirts.

For those of you that lie (or um, know people that lie or something, since no one is really 'fessing up to whether they do or not) do you lie to EVERYONE or do your friends know your real number or what? I guess this is more directed toward the girls, since the guys wouldn't really need to lie to their buddies.

I don't lie about my number. It's not the first thing I tell people when I meet them (none of this "Hi, I'm Rachel and I've banged x number of guys, who are you?") but if I'm involved with someone and we get to that point, I'll tell the truth. Just like I'd expect anyone I'm with to be truthful about his number.

I had a date with a guy who had slept with 400+ women. I was kind of surprised. I wasn't one of those women by the way.

I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but here it is again:

The number doesn't matter. It's irrelevant. I would never judge someone or think less of her because she was a virgin or had one partner her entire life (although I might be curious as to whether the sex is really bad) and I would hope that people would be respectful of women whose numbers are larger than theirs as well. Apparently I'm living in a dream world, because the double standard continues and women are harshly judged if they are more sexually active than others. I think that's BS.

I prefer not to discuss numbers. It's unfortunate, but often men get insecure when a woman's number is larger than theirs, and I'm sure that some of the harsh judgment our society has for sexually experienced women stems from this. I don't ever lie about my number -- I don't know what it is, so I couldn't. I don't care about my guy's number, either.

The bottom line comes down to this: as long as you protect yourself and stay healthy, I say have fun and enjoy yourself.

I would be more concerned about her having slept with guys in my peer group . . or if I knew she had dated guys I thought of as losers or just unworthy.

Also, I'll often avoid women that have had bad relationships because the guy was bad romantic choice. Why would I waste my time with someone that really doesn't know the difference between good and bad? But thats another thread.

So total number really isn't that important nor am I all that interested . . . again unless the above applies.

hee hee...the "Newman found this unacceptable" effect.

Is that a Seinfeld episode lol?

Actually it happened. This really cute girl actually
dated a Fraternity Brother of mine that was not quite in my league socially . .

Anyway, she ended up liking me and I was like . . . but well you dated _______ . . . . I mean how could I do that?

I am trying to imagine an analogy . . but it would be like dating your biological little brothers ex-gf . . the same one you used to pick on.

Yes, it is. Jerry was dating a girl and found out that not only did she date Newman, which was bad enough, but that Newman was the one who broke off the relationship, not her. Jerry couldn't deal after that.

Then there's my friend whose roommate stole her boyfriend, and then the boyfriend left the roomie and turned gay. But I guess that is getting off topic. :D

Okay, Emily says DON'T EVEN ASK. If you're protecting yourself, it should be all good.

I know how y'all are all into etiquette, so I decided to drop that wisdom on ya. ;)

And Jules' .02 is....

As long as the person is getting tested regularly (and you're in it for sex/fun) it doesn't matter. You can sleep with one person and get HIV, and you can bang the entire block and never get an STD. If they are healthy, and you are healthy, and you're doin it, great.

This number matters to me if I'm interested in the person as someone to date (which is basically all the time- I won't sleep w/someone I'm not dating, hence my odd-defying low number.) If they have had 30 partners and they're 21....ok then I'd want to know- were some girlfriends?? All? None?? This is either a guy who lost his virginity early, has been in quite a few relationships but hasn't found the right girl, is a male slut, or treats girls like shit. Or a combination of all of the above. My point is, there are reasons behind the numbers. Depending on what you want the partner for, you may or may not need to know.