Posted on 12/09/2001 9:59:41 PM PST by Don Myers
Survey finds 10 partners before marriage 'normal'
The majority of young people think it is normal for a person to have at least 10 sexual partners before marriage.
A survey has also found that three in 10 believe it is acceptable for a girl to lose her virginity before the age of 15.
Research carried out by Brook, the youth sex advisory service, says there is a "cultural change" in young people's attitudes towards sex.
Some 64% of men and 54% of women agreed that it was acceptable for a person to sleep with more than 10 partners before getting married.
But the survey, which questioned people aged 17 to 25, also showed that they wanted more information about sex and contraception.
Men admitted to getting most of their knowledge about contraception from TV and magazines, while women learned the most from magazines and their mothers.
Half of all the young women surveyed said they wished that teachers had supplied them with more information about preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
Brook chief executive Jan Barlow said: "Young people have an increasing number of sexual partners and they are saying that's OK.
"But at the same time they don't have the information and access to services that they need.
"Young people must seek out advice and information in order to make their choices and to understand how to protect themselves both against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases."
Which brings up another point: Marriage doesn't mean diddly squat in the big scheme of things. How loving or faithful a man/woman will be in marriage is in all likelihood identical to the way they were before marriage. Getting married doesn't change much for people, particularly if they've already had a long relationship prior to marriage.
I've known a number of people who have been in relationships for decades with kids and all who never were married (I have an uncle like that in fact, whose daughter is currently in college), but who had loving monogamous relationships; I guess most of them never saw the point, even though I know some of them were devout Christians. (Perhaps they figured they were married in the eyes of God as a matter of fact than ceremony.) I also know lots of people who are properly married and routinely cheat on each other and/or have dysfunctional relationships. Having a ring on the finger doesn't provide protection from anything.
Of course, then you have the statistics on married couples I remember reading many years ago (in the 80s?) that said that something like 85% of men and 65% of women cheated on their spouse at least once during marriage (according to a survey). Those are pretty poor odds, much worse than the divorce rate even. Yet based on my personal experience, these numbers do not surprise me at all.
It is touching to see you so concerned about woman's rights.
You stink.
I stink because I cannot alter human nature?
Ohhhhh-kay.
I do want to say that after 31 years of marriage, and raising kids who are each married, having grandchildren, watching society change from the 60s...all that...
There can be a very good way--I am still in love with my husband, as well as loving him, I feel loved and taken care of, we seem to have found the knack of exclusiveness--nobody else has any place in our circle of two...you have to WANT that, to have it...if it isn't important to you, if forsaking all others isn't the first thing...do you have a marriage?
We've had our troubles--but they were always OUR troubles--you don't comparison shop after you've made a purchase, or you're doomed to frustration...not to say that marriage is a "purchase" -- it isn't, but just to make the point...
Maybe I'm undersexed or something...I welcome my darling, but the thought of anyone else...yuck! He knows my joy and honors and protects it with his own...
And where are the belly laughs, in this discussion of sexuality, marriage, love? I just feel that without the FUN, why would anyone bother? How can you give the kids a good example of how to be married together if you don't get up to a little horseplay with each other once in a while...?
Sorry about the nag, nag, nag...living well with one person is almost a forgotten art, but one worth working on...the only authority I can quote is my own, here, and my life, which is blessed beyond the measure of every dream I ever had, in spite of the common thorns we all have...
I can't talk about marriage without sounding awkward, hope I have honored my husband with this post...;-D
You don't stink; you're as sweet smelling as the truth. Biology trumps ideology no matter how much resistance is applied. I figured that out at 12; with the help of my mother and the Sisters that taught me.
Yes. I think men can mentally rise above attitudes such as yours. My husband was able to; why can't you?
And that is being done how? If you want to argue that the left has been projecting their own sense of right and wrong onto the children, you would be correct.
I agree. That is how many men view the majority of women today. Many men and women of today have an empty shell.
Sorry, but I thought the idea of "mentally rising above" human nature died with the New Soviet Man. I mean: give me a break.
I'm not here to defend the nature of the average male, by any means. I'm just trying to explain that people who walk around expecting others to "rise above" human nature, "mentally" or otherwise, are bound to be disappointed.
....attitudes such as yours. My husband was able to; why can't you?
When did this get personal? What makes you think I was necessarily describing myself?
I was talking about men in general. Was that not clear? I made no post on this thread revealing anything about my own attitude toward women. What makes you think I did?
In fact, what makes you think I'm even a guy, in the first place?
That could be the explanation, for all I know. In any event, human nature is human nature.
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