KEY POINTS:
"I always knew you Kiwis were sluts," wrote an Australian friend the other day.
Attached was a link to this article, heralding "NZ women most promiscuous".
Intrigued, I read the story, only to discover it was the same survey the Herald on Sunday reported on last weekend - cast in a slightly different light.
Where Australian media chose to focus on Kiwi women's promiscuity, the HoS put a more positive spin on the situation, referring to us as "world-beaters in the bedroom".
Semantics aside, these two stories have got me thinking.
I was genuinely surprised to learn that Kiwi women are the most promiscuous in the world.
Particularly given the emails that so regularly cross my desk, bemoaning Kiwi women's frostiness and frigidity (yes that is a real word - I checked).
Are we really sluttier than our Australian, English or American cousins? Or are we just more honest when filling in surveys?
Anecdotal evidence from friends abroad certainly suggests we Kiwis are no more liberal than any other western society. Rather the opposite in fact.
But even if we are, is that such a bad thing? Should we hang our heads in shame over this 'world title' or own up and accept it?
I have mixed feelings on the issue. On the one hand, I think, 'So what? If people are having a good time and staying safe, who really cares?'
On the other, I am slightly mortified that I have indirectly been branded "promiscuous" because of my nationality.
Perplexing...
What does everyone else make of this situation. Are we liberated or loose?
