Hey Dr Sue — How Can One Reduce Her Body Count?

I’ve been getting *a lot* of questions about body counts in the last few weeks, and I’m not sure why.

I’ve written about this before and my thoughts on it haven’t really changed, so I’m going to repeat myself a bit.

There’s really nothing you can do to reduce your body count — the only thing you could do is change what criteria you use to come up with your body count number. But that doesn’t really change how many people you’ve been with.

If you’re not happy with your number, if you think it’s too high, ask yourself why you think that. Is it because you’re comparing yourself to your friends? Do you think they’re being honest when they give you their numbers?

Is a current or potential partner making you feel uncomfortable about your number? If so, do you really want to be with someone who is shaming you for you past?

I get that it’s important for a partner to know a bit about your sexual history. After all knowing, how many partners you’ve been with recently, and whether or not you were using condoms, can help them make decisions about potential STI risk.

But you have to ask yourself how much of your sexual history a partner is entitled to. Do they deserve enough information to make an informed risk decision? Yes. Are they entitled to…