x 5 ÷ 2

I recently got into a conversation about relationships with one of my guy friends. Somewhere along the line the topic of sexual partners came up and he told me of his x5÷2 rule. The rule dictates that when he asks a woman how many sexual partners she's had he times the number by 5 and divides it by 2 to get the 'real' number! I'm pretty sure many guys will agree with this rule and may even opt to cut out the division stage but really, do all women lie about the number of partners they've had and if so, why?

My friend was very shocked to discover that I've never believed any guy that told me he's had more than 20 different partners and was even more shocked to know that I believed the average for women was about 6 instead of the 15 that he thinks it is. He gave me the whole 'women love sex just as much as guys do' speech and that therefore it was unrealistic of me to think that when women were out of a relationship they all chose celibacy. I'm not naive and I already knew that but whereas he implied women chose several different guys to sleep during the 'cold lonely nights', I have always assumed they just had the one trusted person with whom they chose to spend that time with.

What I really don't get is why women lie about it. Men have come to accept that a woman's libido can be just as high and adventurous as a man's and they are fully aware that the number provided isn't necessarily always accurate so why the lies? Also, if you think sleeping with a variety of men is ok, why lie about it? If you don't thinks it is, why do it?

I know it's always been taboo for a woman to have more than the 'acceptable' number of sexual partners but aren't we in a day and age where that rule has been cancelled out or at least where the 'acceptable' number has been increased? I mean, if men think the average is 15 then obviously anything below or slightly above that won't make him think any less of you. I've always thought being a 'hoe' was dependent on the way a person goes about their sexual experiences than on how many people they experienced it with. And anyway, if guys are averaging 50 sexual partners (which apparently is the case) then its obvious that women cannot possibly have just 5! 

I do have to say that I do not think that women can be as 'free' as men when it comes to sex (I don't think its cool for guys to sleep around either but hey, that's another story) but if the average really is 15 then why lie and say 4? It will obviously make the guy not trust you and that does not make for a good start to a relationship. What I say is this, if you are happy with the way you lead your life then own it and don't let any guy make you feel the need to lie about it,if you are not then just change your ways. Either way don't lie about it, it implies that you are guilty of something.

It's your life, do what you want with it.