Author, director, visual artist – and FAZ.NET solo columnist: Jovana Reisinger
Picture: Ilkay Karakurt
Our columnist comes across the topic of body counts more and more often and remembers his youth. Even back then, it was true that the more sexual partners, the less valuable a woman was. This is much more than verbal devaluation.
EWhen it comes to sex, love and relationships, there are different concepts, ideals and desires that are often mutually exclusive. These are preferences, politically or religiously motivated commands, and often expectations about gender and its assigned roles. The heterosexual nuclear family, marriage, sex before marriage are such (fictitious) values. Or the body count, which has been talked about a lot lately.
Body count refers to previous sexual partners – a number whose logic can define a person's value and thus suitability for a relationship. The higher the number, the less valuable the person seems – at least for women. This rating is not new, but it is gaining new popularity. In doing so, she adopts the same sexist principles of evaluation and condemnation that are also part of the slut-shaming and victim-blaming.