On a recent, unscientific survey conducted by The Hub of more than 100 Tech students, more females – 36 percent – said they have had from two to four sexual partners. The categories of five to 10 partners, 11 or more, and none, each garnered 17 percent of the female responses. Eleven percent said they have only been with one person, while 3 percent admitted they are unsure or do not keep count of how many people they have slept with.
The Tech males who said they were virgins or have only had one sexual partner were the minority on The Hub’s survey, but there was not a distinct majority option indicated. The categories of two to four, five to 10, and 11 or more sexual partners each received around 25 percent of the males’ answers.
While a number of the Tech student respondents said they have engaged in promiscuity via some of the social media sites, most have not.
Unlike the males, the majority of the female participants said they were either married or in an openly Facebook official relationship. At 36 percent, being single was a close runner up. The remaining 13 percent answered either they were in non-FBO relationship, were “talking” to someone, or “it’s complicated.”
These numbers indicated the females’ responses were in favor of the relationship options, while the options with the higher numbers of sexual partners did not stand out.
William “Lin” Humphrey, a fourth-year doctoral digital marketing candidate, said research shows college-aged females judge and reject their peers who appear to be too promiscuous.
A 2013 study from Cornell University found college-aged women whose sex count approaches or exceeds 20 people by their early 20s will have a hard time finding other females who will befriend them.
An article about the study in the Cornell Chronicle said even the respondents who were open to the idea of casual sex or having a steep count of “lifetime lovers,” preferred their female friends to be less sexually active.
“The findings suggest that women still face a double standard that shames ‘slutty’ women and celebrates ‘studly’ men,” according to the article, citing the lead author Zhana Vrangalova, a graduate student in the field of human development in the College of Human Ecology.
The number of Tech male students in a committed relationship surveyed by The Hub was less than the females, but they have had more sexual partners on average than their female counterparts. Six percent of the males said they were either married or in an openly Facebook official relationship – as opposed to 42 percent of the females. Another 5 percent identified their relationship as not FBO – while seven percent of the females said this.
Eighteen percent of the males said either their relationship status was “complicated” or they were “talking” to someone. At 44 percent, the majority said they could not be more single. Four percent admitted to having multiple relationships – an option none of the females chose.
According to the Cornell article, the study reported this contradicting attitude leads to women with above average sexual encounters to be at a greater risk for social exile, poor psychological well-being and deficient physical health.
The allegedly existing double standard against women is not just from other female peers.
“She [Vrangalova] added that prior research shows that men often view promiscuous women as unsuitable for long-term romantic relationships, leaving these women outside of many social circles,” the article said.
The answers from the men who participated in the Cornell study did not warrant a conclusive male stance on friendships with sexually permissive people, the article said. One faction favored the promiscuous friend option — while others chose the non-permissive option, and some did not indicate a preference.
“Even sexually modest men preferred the non-permissive potential friend in only half of all variables,” the article said.
Only one conclusion was reached: the men who identified themselves as sexually promiscuous generally preferred to befriend the males who were less experienced if they thought the other male friend option would be interested in stealing their girlfriends.
All graphics were created by Benjamin Jarvis.
About Alicia Keene
