What’s Your Numberis rom-com flick that was a huge box office flop. Despite that, it’s still rather humorous and is an excellent Friday Night Film that could inspire some healthy discussion with your significant other (or a group of girls). If you’ve never ventured there before, perhaps now is the time to ask, “so what’s your number?”
The 2011 film is a cheeky look at the promiscuous life of the modern woman. Ally is a 30-something blonde desperately trying to find her Prince Charming. After reading an article about the average number of sexual partners a woman has had, and the likelihood of anyone getting married after sleeping with 20 men, she starts to panic. Could she find her Prince Charming in amongst her collection of ex-boyfriends?
So, the main thing here is, why is Ally so worried about having 20 partners in her 30-something lifetime? She lost her virginity in her teens which would mean that she’s slept with around 3 men every two years. Many women have topped that record in one night – never mind two years – and 20 could be seen as a healthy number of pre-committal partners.
According to a National Health survey in the US, 10% of women have reported having two or more sexual partners in the past year, easily topping Ally’s tally of 20 in her lifetime. 25% of women report having only one male sexual partner which does not account for the erotic needs of lesbians, bi-curious and bi-sexual individuals, and 9% of women report having slept with 15 men or more to date.
So what is average?
According to the Telegraph, the average number of partners for a woman is 4.7. That seems a bit conservative, but it does take into account a range of ages from 16 to 69 which neatly crosses the generation gap from Prude to Pole Dancer in a single survey.
24% of surveyed Brits reported having only one sexual partner, and 13% boasted sex with 10 or more partners.
Attitudes seem to be changing though: monogamy was only common in older respondents with 40% of 55+ reporting that they’d only had one partner. However, 15% of all young women polled who had between two and four partners in the last year.
According to the same survey, the average age for losing your virginity is around 17. At a conservative estimate of 2 partners a year, today’s Allys are going to be sporting an average of 30 bed conquests by the time they start to worry about which one may have been Mr Right.
