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."
Ummm... Sexual distractions most certainly exist, even if they aren't having sex or dating. I don't think most teenage boys would associate with girls if it wasn't for the fact that they are a sexual distraction. You can call it what you like, but most human behaviors are predicated on sexual distraction either directly or indirectly. The point is not letting the natural state of sexual distraction drive you to do things that you wouldn't do absent it.
I thought I heard him say once, that he was one, but I don't believe it.
That's the point of it. People need to understand that relationships are a lot of work before they get married. Men and women should get used to another person's opinions and needs prior to marriage, if they want their marriage to be successful. This requires some one-on-one time, and I believe it should apply to sex as well.
That's sad. Did she have a strong father figure?
Hard to say. He was very ordinary, as far as I could tell. The girl's parents were baby boomers who simply saw nothing wrong or even inappropriate with premarital sex.
Conspicuously lacking in their house was even the slightest trace of religious belief or observance. When this girl finally got married, it was in a Unitarian "church".
Sure, though the better relationships don't take nearly as much effort. Marriage takes effort to though, and part of the point of dating is to find out how much effort will be required to have a relationship with a person. I'm not talking about sex, but day to day boring stuff. There are lots of nice girls out there, but some require far more effort to be in a relationship than others, something learned largely through experience. Marriages that require a lot of effort on a day to day basis often fail; people get tired. Relationships/marriages that are nearly effortless are much more robust because there is little cost associated with the fact that the relationship exists.
I can spend a little extra effort now dating if it means that I will have a much more effortless relationship when I am married. I have to deal with a high-effort marriage for a lifetime, whereas dating allows people to recognize high-effort relationships and look for someone who is easier to get along with in practice so that they don't have to face a high-effort relationship for the rest of their life. It is easier on everyone in the long run and builds marriages that are far more likely to weather the storms.
Marriages preceded by cohabitation are 50 to 100 percent more likely to break up than those not preceded by cohabitation. That is an absurd statement.
There is nothing absurd on the face of this statement.
All the material in the source referred to cohabitation before marriage. You orignal statement in post #548 was about sex before marriage. Granted, cohabitatants do have sex before marriage but most sex before marriage takes place outside of cohabitiation.
I assume you have a study which proves that most cohabitation takes place outside of marriage? And unless you are completely anal retentive (and I am not excluding that possibility), you should be able to acknowledge that it is fair at least to make strong inferences about the effects of premarital sex by studying cohabitation.
I assume you have a study which proves that most premarital sex cohabitation takes place outside of cohabitation marriage?
Absurd. Absurd and condescending.
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