How many men have you had sex with in the last 12 months: 3? 15? 50? More than 100? Does the number say something about you - and if so, what?
What does the word "slut" mean? We asked around a bit and got the following explanations, among others.
"Some say slut - I say sexually very successful."
(Jörg, 36 years old from Leipzig)
Some people say "slut" - I say "sexually very successful".
(Jörg, 36 years old from Leipzig)
"For me, a slut is someone who fucks anyone who isn't three on the tree."
(Ben, 24 from Essen)
"Anyone who calls others a slut is just jealous and sexually unsatisfied themselves."
(Frank, 31 years old from Berlin)
But there were also quite a few voices, like that of Daniel (28 from Bremen):
"It's not my place to make judgements about other people's sex lives. That doesn't just apply to 'what you do' but also to 'how many you do it with'."
"It's not my place to make judgements about other people's sex lives. That doesn't just apply to 'what you do' but also to 'how many you do it with'.„
Daniel (28 from Bremen)
If you ask the same people at what point they become a slut, the respondents are much more uncertain in their assessment. Here, the number fluctuates between 5 and 50 sex partners - within a year, mind you.
And when asked how many "gay sluts" there are, opinions also differed in our non-representative survey: one of the respondents had a clear opinion with "every 2nd gay just fucks around". But is that true? A look at the current study "Gay men and HIV/Aids", which was conducted by the Free University of Berlin and will be published in spring 2016, paints a different picture:
Out of almost 13,500 respondents, 2 per cent (i.e. around 270 men) had had more than 50 different sex partners within the last twelve months. The majority of the study participants - namely 36 per cent - had 2 to 5 sex partners within the period in question. For some of our respondents, 5 sex partners was already too many. This means that around 4,860 men's "lifestyle would be considered immoral" (as Wikipedia defines "slut". Interestingly, Wikipedia only uses this term in relation to women ...) But of course that's only part of the truth: the same study also found that more than 80 per cent of respondents wanted a committed relationship. So what does slut mean here?
To put it in a nutshell: Nobody has the right to call someone else a slut just because they supposedly have (too) many sex partners - or because they are thought to be more susceptible to HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases due to a particularly high level of sexual activity.
Because - directly or indirectly - one claim is often linked to the other. But this is not true either: it is a fact that the number of sexual contacts is not the decisive factor in becoming infected. This is why prevention campaigns such as I KNOW WHAT I DO say that you should get tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections at least once a year - regardless of whether you only have sex with your boyfriend or are single with two, five or more than ten partners a year. And where? At these test centres, for example www.iwwit.de/teststellen or at the family doctor.
It is well known that the gay scene is not squeamish when it comes to insulting others: insults such as "You bitch!" are just one of many. We agree with the aforementioned Daniel from Bremen, who didn't want to pass judgement on the sex lives of others. He says: "Ultimately, everyone should concentrate on themselves and their lives and be at peace with themselves. After all, only one thing counts: being satisfied and happy - regardless of whether you have one or 50 sex partners."
