let's talk about sex, baby
Well sort of. More specifically magic numbers. How many partners is too few/too many - not for yourself, naturally, but what would you find offputting in a prospective partner?

I am pretty relaxed but I think anything over 50 and under 2 would make me lift my eyebrows a bit...

Alt Q: how long constitutes a drought? Remember to specify whether you are talking weeks or months (or days or years I guess)
( rachelswipe with a fork, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 9:08, 57 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

I've slept with fewer people than anyone I know above the age of consent
and a few under it. But I have spent nearly 9 years consistently sexing Ms Foxtrot, so I'm absolutely fine with this. It only bothers me a little bit that my (female, mostly straight) best friend has had more girls than I have.

The length of a drought is defined by geography. If, for example, you live in Glasgow you're probably too HEROIN'D UP to have sex. If you live in Ipswich it's more than likely that there's a substantial lack of anyone remotely attractive enough to put your penis in. If you live in Derbyshire then sex is readily available in any given field, so none of the mongs who live there consider a lifetime of not having sex with another human to be a drought.
(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 9:15, Reply)

50!
My wife was my 11th and I was her 4th, I'm happy with that. I still think I was a slag though as most of mine were in the space of a year. My guitarist has slept with about 40 girls and has had chlamydia 4 times.
( Peej, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 9:15, Reply)

I don't care really,
I don't tend to judge prospective partners on that sort of thing.
(PsychoChomp, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 9:20, Reply)

come down
From your moral high horse please, we all know you have precisely zero morals.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 9:24, Reply)

morals previous sexual partners
(The Cat Hater punch a cow for the planet, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 9:37, Reply)

It's true, I'm a virgin on the internet.

(PsychoChomp, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 9:38, Reply)

this is not news
to anyone
( rachelswipe with a fork, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 9:51, Reply)

I'm not too fussed really
Yes, I know how many I've slept with, but I feel no need to broadcast it to others.

Alt Q: More than a month. Longest I've ever gone was 6 months, though I barely noticed at the time (I was 15)
( Agnostic Antichrist Baltimora, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 9:20, Reply)

Mine's low, but just enough to not raise your eyebrows
As for drought, longest I went was just under 2 years. For most of that I wasn't bothered, didn't want it.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 9:22, Reply)

STOP LIVING MY LIFE!

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 9:22, Reply)

I'm even growing a minor chin beard...

( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 9:26, Reply)

Basically, this.

(wellgroomedwookiee is a filthy-minded hobgoblin, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:22, Reply)

I don't think it's even a question I would ask or care to discuss
All that matters is the person you're with, and what they're like now, not their past.
(Bret Mong Keys Eggs has wet his weapon, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 9:42, Reply)

and if they've got AIDS

(PsychoChomp, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 9:44, Reply)

hmm i am not sure
i think it does matter a little bit, as it shows whether you have similar thoughts/beliefs.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 9:56, Reply)

not necessarily
they might want to have shagged 1000s and just not had the opportunity
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:01, Reply)

No, you're just scared that prospective partners
are going to judge you as a FILTHY SLAAAAAAAAAAG!
(Bazongaloid, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:01, Reply)

shush it you
i am very very choosy and a woman of very discriminating tastes.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:09, Reply)

Rubbish!
This is you this is WIKI Link, SFW
(Bazongaloid, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:12, Reply)

i said
SHUSH IT YOU

and show some respect. it's friday and i have a dodgy shaky hand from too much effort in the gym last night so repeatedly typing SHUSH IT YOU is hurting.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:15, Reply)

Having a dodgy shaky hand
sounds like a bonus in your line of work.
(Bazongaloid, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:17, Reply)

in the gym on Jim, the photocopier repair guy
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:17, Reply)

I don't think so
if you're seeing someone, chances are you know them well enough to trust them, and you'll already have a fair understanding of their beliefs and thoughts.
Sexual partners is just a number, some people have more than others, people go through phases, it doesn't necessarily have any bearing on who that person is now
(Bret Mong Keys Eggs has wet his weapon, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:02, Reply)

I agree.
What matters is the person you are with now, and providing they are clean of any STD's, knowing their past is entirely optional.
( The Teviot Moose major 5th., Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:09, Reply)

I wouldn't say thir whole past is optional
but I wouldn't need to know an exact figure before I made my mind up about someone
(Bret Mong Keys Eggs has wet his weapon, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:12, Reply)

True - I think you need to understand the person (and the history that makes up that person).
Knowing exactly how many one-night stands/drunken fumbles is optional.
( The Teviot Moose major 5th., Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:19, Reply)

So would you go out with Peter Sutcliffe then?
He's not killed any prostitutes for aaaages.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:00, Reply)

If I got to know him and like him first, sure, why not?
As long as there weren't any toolkits nearby
(Bret Mong Keys Eggs has wet his weapon, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:03, Reply)

aaa saus
( Bartleby A dead man on vacation, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:03, Reply)

I think this is my POTD

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:09, Reply)

I also like it very much.

(PsychoChomp, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:40, Reply)

partly depends how old you are - 15 partners by the age of 20 is worse than 15 partners by the age of 40
Anything over 6 weeks = a drought unless you've recently finished being in a long term relationship and need to chill for a while.
(lkjshaglkasjdhglkhjz lkcvl; g;aodh;owih, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 9:44, Reply)

I have an embarrassingly high tally
but have now officially retired from all that nonsense - if it's self-imposed it's not a drought is it?
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 9:54, Reply)

hmmmm
interesting typo, is that a missing "w" or a missing "t" ??
( rachelswipe with a fork, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 9:59, Reply)

Alt Q: I think you should wait to ask this question until BGB returns.

( Bartleby A dead man on vacation, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:01, Reply)

I haven't shagged that many people
I think I must be the only lad in history who went through first year at university without getting any fanny (not that I was trying, honestly). Although I'm not arsed about how many a potential partner has been through. As for drought, I'm coming upto about a year at the moment. *bursts into tears*
(Barry from Eastenders is, despite the words written above, not a woman, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:06, Reply)

I was quite incorrigible as a young man.
I don't miss it at all, though.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:08, Reply)

Nope, I know a lad who is about to enter his 3rd year of Uni, and still hasn't

( Agnostic Antichrist Baltimora, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:10, Reply)

Bloody hell
I just don't give a toss about shagging birds unless I actually like them. Plus I have a delusions of grandeur with regards to what birds I can pull which doesn't help.
(Barry from Eastenders is, despite the words written above, not a woman, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:12, Reply)

a couple of my mates are like that
the fools.

we had to wrestle a laptop away from one to update his dating site profile against his will because he put (paraphrasing here) "I don't want no mingers"
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:15, Reply)

To be honest though
I'd rather wait for someone ace and attractive than go through a few munters. I can safely say the three birds I've been out with are pretty fit.
(Barry from Eastenders is, despite the words written above, not a woman, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:25, Reply)

I'd like to say the same
but one was ginger, one was short and welsh (massive norks though) and the last is fit.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:29, Reply)

You are me
AICMFP
( Hdjejjwsjdjjf LOOK, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 20:27, Reply)

it used to bother me somewhat
but I think that is purely because my number is so low.

It's all about the ratio I reckon.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:09, Reply)

I don't even have to say "Same here", do I

( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:16, Reply)

Will you two please stop,
I am getting creeped out a little bit.
(wellgroomedwookiee is a filthy-minded hobgoblin, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:24, Reply)

you do not

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:28, Reply)

I went for 15 years without sex.
Then I lost my v-plates.
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:19, Reply)

+ to a pygmy marmoset

(Bret Mong Keys Eggs has wet his weapon, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:19, Reply)

HOW DID YOU KNOW?
Was that you in the bushes with the camera?
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 12:52, Reply)

I got a call the other week from Thames Vally Water....
... they said to me "I'm sorry Pops, but I'm afraid there is going to have to be a hose pipe ban this summer." So I said to them "Summer? It's been going on for 10 years, and I don't have leaky pipes.".
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:22, Reply)

I'm not allowed to have a drought

( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:25, Reply)

I'm happy with my number, its not too high or too low. Its juuuuuuuuuuust right
Someone with a high number who hadn't been STD checked would make me a bit cautious, but equally someone with a low number would as well if their partner had cheated on them. Neither situation would make me think less of them because its a personal choice...unless they rape dogs.
( fuck shit up the best you never had, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:37, Reply)

Maybe it's best to build a spreadsheet, ranking each partner. You know, bassed on simple things, like how good they were, how much they paid for you, all of that.
Then once you've given them a ranking, add up all the points, and that really counts.

Naturally, it can go in minus figures too.
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:46, Reply)

ask chompy for his spreadsheet

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:49, Reply)

I met my ex when I was 15
and was with her for 11 years, so my running total for the whole shebang is a vastly underwhelming 2.

Also for that reason, I managed to notch up almost 4 years of no knobbing at all, only to get drunk and break my famine with the very ex who caused all the bother in the first place, 2 months after she married the shit she ran off with, no less. I reckon this makes me both boring and awesome in equal measure.

I finally joined the rest of the human race earlier this year with my current (lovely) lady. Only having had one partner felt almost odder than if I'd had none.
( baw__bag contains traces of nuts on, Sun 22 Aug 2010, 18:02, Reply)

I don't know how high a number would be troubling to me, really.
I think maybe in the triple digits might make me feel a little daunted for a moment, but generally it's pretty much irrelevant as long as they're healthy and are satisfied to be with me.

Less than ten by age 40 might be a little off-putting for the simple reason that I would hope for a partner with some experience so she doesn't get freaked out if I want to be inventive in bed. Besides, too few and she might be put off by me as my number is pretty high. (Never gotten the nasties from anyone, though.)

Overall I like Dan Savage's rule that one should strive to be Good, Giving and Game- good in bed, a giving lover, and game to try anything within reason.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Sun 22 Aug 2010, 19:55, Reply)