Does Your Sexual Past Really Matter?
Sep 1st, 2009 | Author: admin | Category: Fly Perspectives
Comments (21)
In a recent piece, I detailed 3 things that you should keep to yourself in the early stages of dating. After the piece was published, there seemed to be some disagreement over one of my points. Here’s what I wrote.
1. The number of past sexual partners.
I don’t care what they say; no one wants to really know how many sexual partners you’ve had before them. So unless your name is Mary and you have a fondness for mangers and swaddling cloth, keep that number to yourself. Guard it like Joe Jackson guards his last bit of self respect. (Bad example.)
Of the responses, the comments and emails ranged from gentle disagreement to indignation. Here’s a small sampling.
**Geela
“I disagree with #1. That’s a part of knowing your partner’s sexual history, which is vital to your health and well being.”
**C
#1 is important to know. You should want to know someone’s history. Knowing the number is one thing and knowing whether they were safe doing so is another. It only takes one wrong slip up. It also lets you know if they have any standards or if they are willing to get at whatever is thrown to them.
**Tina
“Fly Guy, how can you say that it’s not important??? Have you bumped your head? I need to know if he might have something!!!”
**DB
FG, I’m not feelin you on #1. Whores are whores. If she’s slept with more than 10 people, I’m not coming behind that. There’s no telling what will come crawling out.
And on and on it went…
Listen, I can understand you wanting to know the number of sexual partners that your significant other has had. I get it … and if the two of you agree to share that then by all means go for it. But in the early stages of getting to know someone, I’m a firm believer that revealing that number can do more harm than good. Why? Because sex can cloud your perception of who that person really is.
Deconstructing Unfair Perceptions:
To me, a person’s sexual history is irrelevant in the initial stages of getting to know them due to the false sense of safety or danger that it creates. Let me give you an example.
I know a young lady who’s currently HIV positive. She met a charming guy; fell in love; he cheated and ultimately passed the disease on to her. If you were to ask how many men she’s slept with, her answer would be “two.”
Now if you’re a guy and were having a conversation with her about sex, her telling you that she’s only been with two people would give off the air that she was in effect “safe,” and that you could possibly have unprotected sex with her. That’s certainly not the case.
By contrast, I also know someone who probably has no idea how many men she’s slept with. From society’s perspective, it would seem like she’s running through men like toilet paper. But what you also need to know is that she always practices safe sex, gets tested every three months, and has never contracted anything close to an STD. She also adamantly believes in monogamy.
To that same guy, I’m sure that if the two of them sat down for dinner, and the same conversation came up, he would either wrap himself up in a body condom, or think it was guaranteed that he was getting sex on the first night. Both of those perceptions would be unfair and inaccurate.
The Fly Guy Moral-
What those examples provide is a great illustration of the potential dangers of judging a book by its cover …. or in this case, its number. A good rule of thumb is to always practice either abstinence or safe sex in the early stages of the dating process. And even as things progress, couples should get tested together and still continue to practice safe sex right up until they exchange vows.
Now you may not agree with my philosophy, and that’s fine. I don’t expect you to agree with everything that I write. But I would like you to understand the true power of perception, and the potential dangers caused by it. It takes time to get to know a person and to understand both their story and back story. Neither can be properly understood with a single question. So take the time to get to know the whole of a person before making your decision on who they are, and what they represent—particularly when it comes to sex. I was discussing this topic with a close friend today, and she hit the nail on the head.
Nina Brown, V-103 Atlanta:
“All that’s really important is whether or not they have any STD’s, and if the other person is going to be monogamous in the current relationship. In all fairness, the number may give you an idea of one’s character, but I don’t think it’s really so “black & white.” Base it on the current, and not on their past info.” (Follow Nina)
I couldn’t agree more. Your thoughts?
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