That Number...

We all have one – whether it’s two, eight, twenty-four or three hundred. In today’s ‘free and socially excepting’ society: your Number can deter another instantly. Does it all really matter or are we socially programmed to judge? Surely it’s just plain biology and maths.

When one friend announces they have only had three sexual partners, they say it with a level of embarrassment. The other friend over one hundred: but no shame. The confessions could be broken down into the first friend with three sexual partners having encountered the act of sex much more than the other, who may have just had over one hundred one-off one-night stands. So which one is to be heckled or judged? The one that has had the most sex, or the one who has had potentially the least sex, but more partners?

He-Who-Observes has listened to countless discussions on the number. Men are proud when they have conquered more than their friends, spreading their seed like a bull in a heard of buffalo. But the moment the topic is flipped to a female who has mirrored the male’s sexual actions: she is the village bicycle, everyone’s had a ride. It’s the same old same old – and this endless cycle is something that baffles. She has every right in life to do the same, we all live once – there’s no dress rehearsal: and in our society, the rights of woman were equalised decades ago. Is it purely because men are afraid of their pride? Or does this reflect the animal kingdom (say a pride of lions) – the alpha male has numerous females to mate with – but the female only has her one male. Does this mean our social norm on the number is stressed and determined by our co-habitants of this planet in the animal world? Somewhat cave man don’t you think? Come on human race… catch up!

Does it really matter? He-Who-Observes finds it irritating when one person is termed something they’re really not. The men that judge the woman are just afraid of their own performance not matching up. The women that judge the men are simply intimidated by a number that in reality: means nothing.

Divide, subtract and place it all in a petrii dish. The end result will be no different. Numbers are numbers, and this number will always be an issue in our test tube society – however we try and manipulate our data.