Through thick and thin

By Kyle Richardson |News Editor|

In a sex driven generation, casual sex seems to be the norm for many.

However, when it comes to your significant other, I believe that your past should not impact your future.

“It depends on if he has been with someone I know, then it kind of bothers me, but if not, I do not care, that’s the past,” said student, Jessye Gentry.

“Hookup culture dominates the American college social scene. Up to 81 percent of all college students have had at least one casual sexual encounter,” stated Sascha L. Goluboff in an article titled, “Text to sex: The impact of cell phones on hooking up and sexuality on campus.”

That means only two out of every 10 college students have the possibility of not having had sex.

So, when it comes down to it, chances are your future significant other has had multiple sexual partners.

Then it becomes a numbers game.

“I don’t want a guy with a count of 20 (partners), he doesn’t value sex as much,” said student Stephanie Alvarado.

“Max number of 3 (sexual partners for a girl) would be ideal,” said student Bryan Celis. 

“For me though, it doesn’t matter,” added Celis.

It seems that men think it is okay for them to have as many partners as they like, though for a female there should be a number limit.

Society believes that this is the status quo or norm; that it is okay for a male to sleep around, but it is not okay for a female to.

Unfortunately, this is a result of female slut shaming.

While the amount of sexual partners does not define a person, it is still important to keep in mind that STDs do exist.

“If a girl has a high body count, that’s a no (to committing), I’m protecting myself from a possible STD,” said Celis.

“I of course just want to make sure they’re free of STDs,” added Gentry.

So how do you get by this possibility of STDs when dating someone with a high number of sexual partners?

“Open communication, we make mistakes, if they are willing to be committed, and admits his mistakes of a possible STD, it doesn’t matter,” said Noely Santoyo.

While having a conversation regarding this topic with my own significant other, she added her opinion noting that numbers should only matter if you let them matter and affect relationships.

We can only let past issues affect our relationship if we let them.

Your commitment to a relationship should be dependent on love and communication.

If your partner makes every moment with them a memorable moment, then that should be enough to overshadow their past.

To quote Janell Hrycyk, “every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.”