A few nights ago, in the bleak hours of the night, I wasn’t able to go to sleep. Now, you’re probably thinking that sleeping is one of the easiest and greatest things to do, but this night, I just couldn’t. So, I got up from my bed and parked my rear end in front of my couch to watch some mindless television, only to land upon the comedic classic…American Pie.

It’s like any other coming-of-age, teen comedy, full of love, relationships, laughs and bets. Yes…a bet. In the movie, four high school seniors make a bet to have sex by the end of prom night. Now, some of us may have had the same goals as these gentlemen, but this bet also sparked a question in my mind: Whatever happened to guys waiting to have sex until they meet that special someone?

I remember a time when teenagers refrained from having sex until they felt comfortable enough with their significant other. Now, it seems as if we are nothing more than a bunch of lustful jackrabbits, fornicating at any moment we can. In our generation, most people are peer-pressured into being involved in partaking in numerous activities, such as drinking and smoking, but having sex is just as much as one of them.

Why do I target men? Well, I feel that we are far more pressured into having sex than women are, thus, only having sex so that we can brag about our experiences. For example, if a male has sex very often, then he’s known as “The Man,” otherwise, he is labeled as a loser. However, for a woman, it’s quite the reciprocal. If a woman has sex often, then she’s known as a “slut,” but if she’s a virgin or doesn’t have much sexual experience, then she is looked at as being pure and/or sincere. Nevertheless, men are freer with their decision in having sex because we are not the ones who get pregnant.

To me, having sex is another way for you and your partner to express the love that you have for each other that you can’t show in any other way. But in today’s standards, sex is nothing more than a hobby.

Now, you’re probably thinking, “Hey, what is this guy talking about? Having sex feels so good, who is he to tell us not to do it?” Well, of course having sex feels good, but there are obviously just as many negative aspects to having sex as there are positive-such as an unplanned pregnancy or obtaining a sexually transmitted disease.

I’m not implying that having sex is a bad thing, it’s quite beautiful, but women are more than a piece of meat. Moreover, I’m not a women’s rights activist, I just happen to respect women. However, from what I know, there are men who only go after women for that sole reason-sex.

Go on and have all the sex you want, but just do it with someone who you love and care for, not someone you just met twenty minutes ago. Have sex because you and your partner equally feel that you are ready to explore a new level of sharing love for one other, and not because your drunk buddy constantly makes fun of you for wanting to save it for the “right” girl.

As Eddie Winslow once said on an episode of Family Matters, “I’d rather choose quality over quantity.”