Men And Women's Ideal Number Of Sexual Partners Reveals 'Shocking' Double Standards In The Bedroom

Men And Women Reveal 'Perfect' Number Of Sexual Partners

News flash: some guys have a rather prehistoric view of how many sexual partners women should have.

A survey showing the desirable number of sexual partners for both sexes has revealed some men think it's okay to have slept with six times more people than women have.

Guys believe, on average, that a woman should sleep with just five people. However they think men should have roughly 32 sexual partners. Double standards, much?

For women, the number of people they'd ideally like a guy to have slept with, on average, is 11. And they think the perfect number of people for a woman to sleep with is 10.

"This is the sort of statistic that makes you want to throw your hands in the air and basically give up on sexual equality because it so obviously reinforces the old stereotype that it’s okay for a man to sleep around but not a woman," says sex and relationships expert Tracey Cox.

"I’m surprised - I would have thought there would have been a small difference between the numbers. It certainly does appear that the old double standard is alive and kicking."

The survey by MedExpress questioned 2,500 adults, who had all admitted to having a one night stand in the past, about their sexual experiences.

Participants were asked whether they were ashamed of the number of people they had slept - with just under half (47%) claiming they were.

A third of those surveyed said they had lied to a sexual partner about the number of people they'd slept with.

When asked why, 72% said they thought their number was too high while 28% were embarrassed because their number was too low.

"Sexuality and sexual health should not be anything we are ashamed of and we need to become more open and honest with each other as a society," said Michael Ross, spokesperson for MedExpress.

"It shocked us to see the difference between the male and females ‘perfect’ number."

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