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Her Gay Best Friend: Sex - All the Cool Kids are Doing It
We need to talk.
When we came to college I could see the excitement in your eyes. After all, in your mind you were free. Free from the watchful eyes of your family. Free from the confining walls of your high school. Free from the horror of walking by your parents' bedroom door, realizing it was locked, and knowing why.
"No more!" you vowed to yourself. "Now it's my time. Time for me to venture out into the unknown. Time for me to live life for myself. Time for me to have fun, to meet new people, to have new experiences."
And to be fair, you mostly kept that vow. You've undoubtedly been having fun. And you've certainly met new people. It's just that you haven't really been having that many new experiences. In fact, you've mostly been having the same experience. Just with different people. A lot of different people.
What I mean to say is, you've become a bit a ho.
Now I know what you might be saying. "I have sex. Big deal! It's not nearly enough to warrant this intervention. Besides, if I was a guy, you'd be congratulating me."
And in response to that, I would say that sex is a serious thing, with many potential consequences. Regardless of whether or not you have a penis, there are things you need to consider before jumping in the sack.
Now you might be thinking, "Who are you? My mom?"
And to that I would say no, I'm not your mom. I have much better clothes and hair. I'm merely a concerned friend who doesn't want to see you going down a path that will only get you hurt in the end.
You're probably saying to yourself, "A concerned friend? Because right now you're acting more like my therapist."
And to that I would say I am not trying to be your therapist. However, I am a psychology major, so I do know something about the human mind.
Now you might want to say, "Oh so you took a couple of introductory courses and now you think you can psychoanalyze me? Face it Scott. All you're good for is a few witty one-liners."
And to that I would ask: Where is this attitude coming from? Honestly, I don't know what's gotten into you lately. Oh wait. I actually know a lot of things that have gotten into you lately, and that's the problem.
I think I just won that hypothetical argument. With a witty one-liner no less.
But back to the topic at hand.
As a woman you need to be conscious of the many possible outcomes of sex. With every guy you let traipse around in your cabbage patch, you have to acknowledge the fact that what you are doing could result in pregnancy. Or a sexually transmitted disease. Or variety of social consequences that you hadn't even thought of.
Am I saying that the only way to have a healthy, acceptable sex life is to wait ‘til marriage? By no means. If I thought that, then I myself could only have a healthy sex life in five of these United States. And Canada. What I am saying is that you should be aware of the choices you make and their possible consequences. As you continue to navigate the exciting world of the boudoir, just remember the following things.
Quantity is not the same as Quality

One day, while home sick from school, I tuned in to an episode of what I consider to be the highest caliber of daytime television: Maury. On this very special episode, the guest of the day was Telia, a lovely young woman who had been on the show ten times before. On each of those appearances, Telia had brought in a different man that she claimed to be the father of her child, Shardae, and each of those times Maury performed a paternity test that determined the man was, in fact, not.
But on this very special episode, Telia was confident. This man, she claimed, was the last man it could be. According to her, there was no one else she'd been with around that time. And so, as the man continued to deny his fatherhood, Telia taunted him and began to count the money she would soon receive in child support. That is, until Maury uttered those six terrible words.
"Dion, you are NOT the father."
Understandably, Telia ran off the stage in horror, while Dion high-fived a few of the audience members.
Consider this for a moment. This woman brought in eleven different men that she thought could be her child's father, and was wrong each of those times. Not only does that mean she slept with at least twelve people in the period of roughly a month, but her confidence that Dion was the last possibility means that she slept with so many that she lost track.
As Telia learned all too well, every time you have sex is a chance that you'll have a baby. If you sleep with so many men that you can't even remember them all, you're going to waste a lot of time dragging men onto Maury before you get your child support.
You can't always get what you want

Because of my circumstances, I'd like to think that I have liberal views of love and attraction. I believe that if two people are attracted to each other, they shouldn't let social conventions like gender, race, or age stand in their way. There is, however, one social convention that I believe should always stand in the way of your prospective hook-up:
The girl he is currently dating.
I shouldn't have to explain this any further, but I think I need to drive this point home. If you're only looking for a good time, then your search should be restricted to men who are on the market. Because once you've had your fun and moved on, he'll still be left to deal with the mess that your encounter left.

About Scott Rosenfeld
Biography
Scott Rosenfeld is a junior at Carnegie Mellon University pursuing a double major in Professional Writing and Psychology. Originally from the D.C metropolitan area, Scott grew up with a great passion for the written word. From the time he first read Dr. Seuss, he realized the overwhelming power of human language, as well as the limitless joy of making up words for the sake of rhyme. On campus, Scott keeps busy working as the prose editor for the Oakland Review Literary Journal and an editor for the Thought: Undergraduate Research Journal. He was also recently elected to the position of editor-in-chief for The Cut, Carnegie Mellon’s music magazine, for which he has worked as the copy manager for the past year. As editor-in-chief, he hopes to buy all of his staff a thneed. Because a thneed, he feels, is something that everyone needs.
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Comments
Awesome
I love Law and order SVU
I would have to say, however
that ''ho'' is a minced oath for whore, which is the same thing as slut. Just because it sounds ''cuter'' or funnier when you say it does not mean it designates something different...
It's simple
Do you know why there's a double standard?
Because it's easy for a woman to get laid.
A straight guy? Not so much.
Haha
Truth!
"Finally, I agree with the
"Finally, I agree with the derogatory nature of the word "slut." You'll find that it's not used once in this article."
Ho isn't just as bad?
This article is nothing that hasn't been said a billion times before, anyway. I really resent the whole "reputation" and "cow-milking" assertions. Maybe some women are either discreet about their sex lives or don't care what other people think, and maybe there are men who aren't judgmental enough to reject a girl for a long-term relationship because of "past indiscretions"? (Whatever exactly constitutes an "indiscretion.")
One of my friends is (excuse my language) the sluttiest slut whoever slutted, and is sleeping with half his college, male and female, as well as being involved in a triad. He's also male. I have a feeling no one ever warns him about dairy cattle.
This is where HS sex ed missed the mark
Great article. I don’t think this sent women back to the 50s at all. The message I got was have fun but be safe and don’t compromise yourself as a strong independent woman just to spend a few nights with the hottie down the hall. And I think any man worth spending the night with would understand this article and how it could apply to him. If he doesn’t get it then he probably doesn’t respect women and is not worth the time of day.
Scott, I'm sure you're a lovely person, but...
Okay, I hate to rain on the love parade here in the comments, but I couldn't not comment on this article. While I appreciate that it is meant to be jokey and lighthearted, some of the stereotypes enforced are pretty detrimental to women, I think.
First of all, even with the disclaimer at the end, the fact of the matter is that a man's sexual behavior is NOT monitored as closely as a woman's is--unfortunately, that's just a fact. While you COULD theoretically give this advice to any dude, you wouldn't. For whatever reason (well, for a multitude of reasons, actually, including patriarchal values, double standards, and sexism) it seems that on college campuses it is a woman's job to remain "not slutty" and watch out for her reputation, but guys never really have to worry about it. I'd love for anyone to jump in if they disagree, but in my experience a guy has rarely experienced negative consequences for having a lot of sex, and the word "slut" is not thrown around with as much venom when used toward a man. Slut is a word that was created to shame women, and though I don't believe the author of this column was intending to do that at all (at least I hope not!) it's hard to get away from the intention of the word, even when it's used casually.
I also think that this article does enforce certain "rules" that are unfair and ultimately crippling for women, such as equating sex with babies (as far as I know, using a reliable form of birth control is a pretty easy way to stop that concern) and assuming that a woman who partakes in multiple one-night stands has intimacy issues.
I'm sorry I'm rambling, but I feel really strongly about this. We exist in a shame culture, and it makes women feel insecure and ashamed about having sex. That's wrong. Here's what I'm really trying to say: people like sex. Women are people. Thus, women like sex. Some women like to have a lot of it, some women like to have a little. Regardless of your desires, it's nobody's business what your sex life is like except you and your partner(s). Be safe, obviously, and make sure you're not making decisions that YOU will regret, but if the concern is some bro not wanting you because you've already been "milked", or because he can "milk" you and then move on (wtf this metaphor sucks, ew) then I think the problem is likely the bro in question...not your sex drive.
/Rant over.
I know there's a double standard but...
I'm a guy and I get called a slut constantly and it really is terrible for my feeling and reputation and everything else. I don't mind too much because any girl I get to know really well will know the truth and not mind it but it still feels terrible. I know girls get it much worse and I doubt guys are as understanding when things like that come up. Just sayin it does happen to guys nowadays too.
Apples and Oranges
While I agree with basically all of your arguments, I think it is impossible to discuss sex and satisfy everyone and offend no one. I think Scott's article successfully discusses serious aspects of sex in a light hearted, practical, and most importantly, realistic way. While adding the disclaimer at the end is diplomatic and in theory all of this could be said to a guy, I also think it is a sobering fact that when comparing the sex lives of men and women, it will always be a discussion of apples and oranges. There are and will always be double standards and most likely two different sets of advice. If men and women weren't two different things there would not be two different names for them. I love being a women and also enjoy hearing advice that is tailored to my personal experiences and expectations. Agreeing with Scott, this is called Her Campus, not His and Her Campus.
I wish my Sex Ed class in high school had said half of these things, because its likely that these situations apply to the majority of sexually active women whether they like it or not. Thanks Scott for being so honest!
Good Morning
Hey Vanessa,
I couldn't help but reply to your comment, because I felt as though you put a fair amount of time and thought into it, and I didn't think that should be ignored.
First and foremost, I do agree that there is a double standard for men and women regarding sex. I am very against this double standard, and feel that it is damaging to any girl who doesn't fit neatly into the chaste mold that society has set for her. However, I disagree with your comment that I would not give this advice to a guy. I certainly would. The reason I did not do so in this article, though, is very simple: I write for a website directed at college women. If I wrote for "His Campus," I would be more likely to write a column deconstructing the double standard for my fellow college men.
As for the intent of this article, most of the articles I write are targeted towards specific girls I know who are engaging in unhealthy patterns of behavior. I find nothing wrong with any girl who enjoys having sex and who may enjoy doing so frequently, but when taken to extremes anything can be unhealthy. A one night stand is not on its own an unacceptable action, but if a person only has one night stands then he or she is putting himself at risk by engaging in a personal, risky behavior with people that he or she can't necessarily trust. As someone who is guilty of that, I suppose I was speaking more from personal experience than accusatorily.
Finally, I agree with the derogatory nature of the word "slut." You'll find that it's not used once in this article.
I appreciate your point of view on this matter. I would hate for anyone to think that I disapprove of girls who enjoy sex, or that I don't think men's sexual practices should be given equal consideration.
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