User:Samuelcasey/Premarital sex

I hope to improve the premarital sex page by adding more to the "Cultural Views - United States" section and provide more context behind a lot of the statistics regarding premarital sex around the world.

Gender Differences
In some countries, gender differences with premarital sex can be linked to virginity. In India, a woman may undergo a "virginity test" on her wedding night where she can be banished by her husband or subject to an honor killing if it's found she is no longer a virgin. Men are not subjected to this same test and could get away with having premarital sex. In Iran, if a husband finds out his wife had premarital sex, it can be used as grounds for divorce. Therefore, hymen reconstruction surgery is not uncommon for women who wish to prove their virginity.

Religion
Views on premarital sex are often shaped by religious teachings and beliefs, in part because ancient religious texts forbid it. Generally, people who actively practice religion are less likely to engage in premarital sex or at least go longer before having sex for the first time. Muslims and Hindus are less likely to report having premarital sex than Christians, Jews, and Buddhists. Islam has the greatest effect of attitudes on premarital sex. People in predominantly Muslim have the lowest report of engaging in premarital sex. Students who attend a faith-based (predominantly Christian) university view premarital sexual activity more negatively than students who don't.

United States (unbolded text is mine)
'''During the colonial period, premarital sex was publicly frowned upon but privately condoned to an extent. Unmarried teenagers were often allowed to spend the night in bed together, though some measures such as bundling were sometimes attempted to prevent sexual intercourse. Even though premarital sex was somewhat condoned, having a child outside wedlock was not. If a pregnancy resulted from premarital sex, the young couple were expected to marry. Marriage and birth records from the late 1700s reveal that between 30 and 40 percent of New England brides were pregnant before marriage.'''

The growing popularity of the automobile, and corresponding changes in dating practices, caused premarital sex to become more prevalent. '''Alfred Kinsey found that American women who became sexually mature during the 1920s were much less likely to be virgins at marriage than those who became mature before World War I. A majority of women during the 1920s under the age of 30 were nonetheless virgins at marriage, however, and half of those who were not only had sex with their fiancés. A 1938 survey of American college students found that 52% of men and 24% of women had had sex. 37% of women were virgins but believed sex outside marriage was acceptable. Prior to the middle of the 20th century, sexuality was generally constrained. Sexual interactions between people without plans to marry was considered unacceptable, with betrothal slightly lessening the stigma. However, premarital sex was still frowned upon.'''

'''Beginning in the 1950s, as premarital sex became more common, the stigma attached to it lessened for many people. In 1969, 70% of Americans disapproved of premarital sex, but by 1973 this number had dropped to 50%. By 2000, roughly a third of couples in the United States had lived together prior to marriage.''' During the second half of the twentieth century, premarital sex has remained steady for men, but 60% more women lost their virginity prior to marriage during this same period. This has altered the traditional nuclear family, with half of all children living with a single parent at some point in their life.

During this period of sexual liberation, sexual media and pornography became more prevalent and normalized premarital sex. People who watched pornography viewed both adult and teenage premarital sex as societally acceptable. As sex before marriage became more commonplace, so did sexual violence against women. Compared to the 1950s, domestic violence and sexual crimes against women increased ass women were being viewed as sexual objects for men.

Despite its growing acceptance, premarital sex was still considered unacceptable by 30% of the population in a 2014 study, while 29% found it acceptable, and 36% considered it not a moral issue.