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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at VCU chapter.

College is a place where students are known to explore — sexually. Many college students have been asked that infamous question; “ What’s your body count?”  Or “how many people have you slept with?” Whether we’re asked through a text message or in person, the question is always a hard one to answer.

Somehow women have caught the short end of the stick when talking about their sexual journey. For females, there’s a negative assumption that comes along with having a high body count — the girl is easy. This damaging theory makes females a little more hesitant when telling someone else what their number is.

Meanwhile, we completely ignore the fact that both men and women experience the same sexual impulses; with hormones’ raging it’s natural to want to have sex; however, women are the only ones continuously reprimanded for acting on such urges. Conversely, boys who sleep with countless girls are considered “the man.” Society has shown us that for guys, it doesn’t matter if their number is high or low they automatically get a free pass. 

Personally, I believe society has come up with this ‘magic number’ in order to make a women’s sexuality easier to digest, because it’s much easier to place a women into two different categories; easy or prude, than it is to say she’s just exploring.

Truth is–there is no one specific magic number; everyone’s magic number varies and can have a different meaning to various intimate partners.  Someone might think a high body count just shows how experienced that individual is and for someone else that number could just mean you enjoy having sex. Enjoying intimacy is not a crime and women should not be subjected to persecution from others for being so secure with their sexuality. 

The magic number suggests that someone has slept with just the right amount of people and they should be proud to say what their body count is. But for the women that fall above or below the magic number their much better off keeping quite.

Honestly, you decide your magic number and let no one else’s opinion weigh in and discourage you on your sexual journey.

(photo courtesy of Twitter.com)

Saiounia is a 20 year old Broadcast Journalism major studying at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her name is pronounced (Say-oh-knee-uhh). She is originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Saiounia is a food junkie and loves adventure. In her spare time she can be found at local food festivals and family owned coffee shops.
Keziah is a writer for Her Campus. She is majoring in Fashion Design with a minor in Fashion Merchandising. HCXO!