Reality check: 95 percent of Americans had premarital sex

CNN ^ | 12/19/2006

[doc30]

NEW YORK (AP) -- More than nine out of 10 Americans, men and women alike, have had premarital sex, according to a new study. The high rates extend even to women born in the 1940s, challenging perceptions that people were more chaste in the past.

[DoughtyOne]

Figures lie and liars figure.

Exactly. Thanks for the comments. I don't believe I'd heard those Harvey comments before.

[oldenuff2no]

I don't doubt it a bit. Biology is a hard thing to ignore.

[yield 2 the right]

I am a guy and still waiting for the right woman..................am I a FR freak or or what.........I am telling the real truth here folks......

[freedom4me]

This research was done by "...the Guttmacher Institute, a private New York-based think tank that studies sexual and reproductive issues and which disagrees with government-funded programs that rely primarily on abstinence-only teachings."

Don't forget, the Guttmacher Institute was once the research arm of Planned Parenthood. Dr. Guttmacher was the president of Planned Parenthood. In 1972 he won Planned Parenthood's Margaret Sanger award.

It's no wonder the Institute disagrees with abstinence programs.

I don't trust Guttmacher/Planned Parenthood stats.

[AmishDude]

The bigger problem is the number of women who engage in premarital nagging.

It's an epidemic.

[Central Scrutiniser]

The other 5% lie.

[yield 2 the right]

I have done that and I am going to have to face up to it with the BIG MAN UPSTAIRS someday........

[eastforker]

Because some people live in denial. they won't even admit to themselves that they might be wrong.The joke about the other % lied is one about masturbation, those that have and those that lie about it.

[Little Bill]

In "In Merry Old England", the men and women ran into the woods on St Johns Day, those that scored gave the scoree a Green Dress and married, before the Church door, before the swelling showed too much.

There were times that a scoree had scored to many times and straws were drawn to determine the scorer. Every child had to have a father in those days!

[NinoFan]

What? You mean you haven't decided to prove your manhood by banging a hot chick? How blasphemous!

In all seriousness, congrats on your decision and sticking with it.

[Non-Sequitur]

Reality check: 95 percent of Americans had premarital sex.

And a considerably smaller percentage have postmarital sex.

[NYCynic]

What is the point of a study like this. No good can come from this, only more derision.

[zarf]

...and not one was a Republican!!!!

[zarf]

You mean you haven't decided to prove your manhood by banging a hot chick?

Can two single people turned on by each other just have a zesty session without being immoral?

[NinoFan]

I'm well aware of the original joke, but I did not think it fit this situation very well. Getting laid is quite different from masturbation on a number of levels.

We clearly run in different circles and that's fine. No one where I grew up would have lied and said they were still a virgin. If someone had the guts to say they were a virgin, then odds were very, very good that they were. That went for women too.

When I said I knew lots of people who didn't have pre-marital sex, I didn't mean they were shouting from the rooftops that they were virgins. Those kinds of people make me suspicious. This info was revealed in private conversations and in many cases the friends were very close. More than once a person told me that he had lied earlier in life about not being a virgin and that he had quite the experience on his wedding night.

[smalltownslick]

Yeah! The baby-boomers were chaste as the wind-driven snow!
Actually some of us were and some of our children are. Shock of all shocks!

Yep, I was 20 and a virgin, so naive it was awful. Unfortunately, later on, after I was divorced, I was pretty wild, and I guess I thought I was pretty cool at the time. Now that I am pretty settled again, it makes me shudder every time I think about it. Just the opposite of people who get their wildness out of their systems before they settle down. I was such an innocent, and got kinda wild later on. Never did do drugs, though. Tried a joint twice, and my only impression was "this hurts my throat, why would anyone do it?" So now I'm not too interested in sex anymore, but I do like my wine. Still, I was always the most naive one in my circles - I remember someone who acted surprised that I didn't do drugs - "well, you're in the music business, I just assumed that you did...."

[killjoy]

The bigger problem is the number of women who engage in premarital nagging.

The real problem is not polygamy, it's having more than one mother-in-law.

[fish hawk]

Do any of you buy a car without taking it around the block first?

[Doc-Joe]

95%? Many of those polled have had to provide dishonest answers. More than 5% of the population is butt ugly.

[Albion Wilde]

too much information.