Premarital Sex And Its Effects

Premarital sex was viewed as wrong when I was younger. It was the social norm to have sex once two individuals were married to each other. As I got older, I have noticed that individuals my age did not follow that norm to the point that it has become socially accepted today as normal behavior. On the contrary, my parent’s generation still view premarital sex as deviant since majority

Natural Law, the basis for many of the teachings of the Catholic Church, is often considered a very conservative approach to sexual ethics, particularly to pre-marital sex. This allows for many interesting points for discussion in a modern society like our own. In this essay I will outline the Natural Law approach to pre-marital sex and evaluate its reliability. I will also outline and evaluate other ethical approaches to the topic in an attempt to determine if a more reliable approach is available.

There was once a time when premarital sex hardly ever existed, but that is not the case today. The age of individuals taking part in premarital sex is declining, and people are partaking in sexual acts at much younger ages. There is a highly unrealistic goal to encourage all Americans to abstain from sex until they marry (Finer 2). This is a highly unrealistic goal; the amount of people having premarital sex may lower, but getting all Americans to abstain is a nearly impossible goal. A 2002 survey showed that seventy-five percent of people aged 20 had premarital sex. The same survey portrayed participants aged 44 and it showed that ninety-five percent had sex before marrying. The survey showed that only around three percent of people abstained until marriage (Finer 3). Premarital sex also differs in the different sexes. Males were more likely to participate in premarital sex than women. This statistic is still common today. Premarital sex seemed to play a major role in relationships all the way back to the 1940s, it just depended on what age they did the act. By age 44, almost all people, if not married, had premarital sex (Finer 4). This is a social norm that seemed to stay relatively constant in American society throughout history. Not being abstinent is something that individuals have been accustomed to. It was socially

Sexual behavior in America has gone through some severe changes through the years and none seem to be for the better. This shows a huge change in the moral standings of our society as well as the liberal freedoms that women now have.

They see the overwhelming importance given to sexual attractiveness in the media-one study estimated that the average teenager ahs witnessed nearly 14,000 sexual encounters on television- yet they also hear their parents and religious advisers telling them that sex is wrong. As a result, many young people begin having sex without really intending to and without taking precautions against pregnancy.

The stigma that females cannot have sex outside of wedlock is gone. When asking girls from a local high school Anna Quindlen was told “If you were a virgin, you just lied about it so that no one would think you were immature” (199). This development is the complete opposite of what it was 40 years ago. Teenagers are getting more educated about sex and pregnancy than they used to, but teens are also getting more pressure to have sex as well. Society’s impact is not just confined to viewing women and men more equal when it comes to sex, but also in other areas such as the education of math and

The reason abstinence and monogamy became so widespread in the first place is because of the spread of Christianity. Now, America is becoming less religious therefore less people are waiting until

Where in the first world would one expect the teen pregnancy rate to be the highest? Surprisingly, it is the United States that has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any first world country, more than double the rate of twenty other first world countries and almost ten times greater than that of Switzerland. While some of the disparity can be attributed to factors such as income inequality, the presence of abstinence only education has a major impact on birth and STD rates in the United States in comparison to other countries with more comprehensive programs. It is clear that this difference in approaches has a significant effect, and the United States needs to act to ensure the health of its citizens. Urgent actions are necessary

Within the United States, there are multiple groups and subcultures that vary in terms of their sexuality. Aspects such as religion, education, acculturation, life experiences and socioeconomic status, can influence people and their sexuality. The religion Roman Catholicism for example, has influenced many people throughout the years. Traditionally, Roman Catholics believed that sexual intercourse before marriage was sinful and wrong, along with condemning any sort of sexual activity that does not potentially result in reproduction. However, nowadays many Catholic women use some sort of contraception, such as condoms or birth control, even though traditionally it goes against their religion. Education is another factor that has led to many

The topic of sex if often avoided in daily conversation. Not only is sex considered to be taboo, but it is also predetermined. The American people schedule when to have sex in order to avoid pregnancy- as if pregnancy is some sort of unwanted occurrence. In order to know when it is safe to have sex, the female Americans often track their cycle and predict when they are ovulating- the time when women are most fertile. Even after a women does become pregnant, the event is still treated as awkward- shameful even. This idea is best exemplified by the choice of dress that pregnant women choose to wear. Female Americans, who have been impregnated, tend to choose to wear loose and baggy clothing in order to hide their current state. Once it is time for the child to be born, the American women will seek the assistance of a physician within a health care facility; they typically wish to be alone when this act is taking

Society has plugged information into young people’s mind for generations. This programmed, presumptive information has made youthful people, especially teenagers, and young adults think and act like robots. Buried deep in many teenagers thoughts ensued by their parents and society are the words, “No sex before marriage!”. Different people, have countless different reasons that they believe one should not have sex before marriage. Society, in lots of different places look poorly on those who engage sexually before being married. I’ve witnessed it happen more then once locally in my area, and its always ends with such a negative outcome. Even in schools kids are taught that sex is bad thing, and told not to engage in any sort of sexual activity. Rather then being taught about the importance of safe sex society is programing kids to just not have sex at all, especially in America. “Americans love to tout the value of waiting until marriage to have sex. We teach abstinence-only education in schools across the country, and even comprehensive sex-ed programs often point out that "abstinence is best."” (Jill Filipovic). People get married, most of the time, because the love each other but marriage is only a document. And when you love someone, you don’t need a contract to prove it. And you shouldn’t need a stamp of approval saying when and when you’re not allowed to be intimate with someone you love. Having sex before marriage should not be looked so poorly upon this day in age.

While parents would like their children to wait as long as possible to begin having sex, the reality is that teens are having sex much younger than many parents think. Some teens, or preteens, begin having sex or engaging in sexual behavior in junior high. By the time they are seniors in high school, an estimated 65 percent of teens have had sex, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2007. (Dawn, 2009). Unfortunately, a percentage of those teens will become pregnant. After more than a decade and a half of decline (a 27 percent drop from 1991 to 2000), teen birth rates rose again in 2006, which was the last year for which data are available. It is still unclear on what caused teen birth rates to rise again, with supporters of abstinence-only sex education programs and contraception-based programs each blaming the other side for the increase. However, a 2007 study in the Journal of American Public Health attributed the trend in decreasing pregnancy rates to improved contraception use among teens during that time. (Anderson Orr, 2009).

Statistics from recent studies suggest that only 13% of U.S. teens have ever had sex by the age of 15. But by the age of 19, seven in ten teens of both sexes have had sex. Between 1995 and 2006-2008, the percentage of teens aged 15-17 who had ever engaged in sexual intercourse declined from 38% to 28%. Among teens aged 18-19, it declined from 68% in 1995 to 60% in 2006-2008. The pregnancy rate among young women has declined steadily from 117 pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15-19 in 1990 to 70 per 1,000 in 2005. However in 2006, the rate increased for the first time in more than a decade, rising to

The Catholic Church teaches that premarital sex is wrong, yet it is still widely practiced around the world. The reason marriage was created was to join two people of the opposite sex together in a holy sacrament that would make the couple one. God's reason for marriage is quoted in the bible when he said, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." The Sacrament of marriage is one of the most sacred Sacraments in the Catholic Religion. By performing premarital sex, the couple is breaking a covenant with God and is performing a sin.

Over many years, the views of premarital sex have been becoming increasingly more tolerant. The whole reasoning behind why sex was created is lost in the minds of society and used for pleasure and own physical satisfaction. There are negative consequences for these actions leading to guilt, depression, and numbness to intimate relationships. Having strong parental influence can also strongly affect the outcomes of adolescence and causal sex. Additionally, marriage can be