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Survey finds 10 partners before marriage 'normal'
Drudge ^ | 10th December 2001 | Ananova

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."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous
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To: Marysecretary
"When she and her boyfriend got married, she was a virgin. A rare commodity these days."

So she says. Many a girl has her mother fooled.

A close female friend of mine had been having sex for years, and with a number of guys (a nice Catholic girl mind you). When she got married her mother told her to put a towel down on the bed because there can be bleeding your first time. The dressing room erupted with laughter

Nevertheless, if you asked her mother, to this day, I bet she'd tell you her daughter was a virgin on her wedding day. Maybe your daughter didn't have sex, but the odds are that she did and you turned a blind eye to it. It happens everyday.
701 posted on 12/11/2001 12:07:36 PM PST by Jadge
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To: independentmind
I assume you have a study which proves that most premarital sex takes place outside of cohabitation?

This is very obviously the case if you look at the relative levels of promiscuity (however that is defined) in the general population. Most guys do not move in with the girls the sleep with in my experience; most young guys will tell you that has more costs than benefits. Most times, I see cohabitation happen for long-term monogamous relationships (which may or may not end up in marriage). It is kind of like the halfway house to marriage for many people.

That said, the cohabitation/marriage statistics are probably meaningless due to self-selecting populations. The types of people who choose not to co-habitate almost certainly have different statistical behaviors in marriage as well, so you are essentially looking at two different populations in parallel, not an average statistical population that has been normalized for personal belief systems. Many of the same people who don't believe in cohabitation also don't believe in divorce, or believe in divorce only in the most extreme circumstances. Correlation is not causation, and the above fact skews the results.

702 posted on 12/11/2001 12:07:53 PM PST by tortoise
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To: independentmind
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.

Any statistic that admits a margin of error of 100% is absurd.

703 posted on 12/11/2001 12:11:17 PM PST by pcl
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To: independentmind
I assume you have a study which proves that most cohabitation takes place outside of marriage?

I assume that your source's working definition of "cohabitation" is living together outside of marriage. Given that I would have to that that yes most cohabitation takes place outside of marriage

Do you have some other definition in mind for cohabitation?

704 posted on 12/11/2001 12:16:26 PM PST by pcl
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To: tortoise
That said, the cohabitation/marriage statistics are probably meaningless due to self-selecting populations. The types of people who choose not to co-habitate almost certainly have different statistical behaviors in marriage as well, so you are essentially looking at two different populations in parallel, not an average statistical population that has been normalized for personal belief systems. Many of the same people who don't believe in cohabitation also don't believe in divorce, or believe in divorce only in the most extreme circumstances. Correlation is not causation, and the above fact skews the results.

A+. If I could only get my students to understand sample-selection bias as well as you do. I am afraid though that your explanation will be completely ignored, I have tried similar lines of reasoning several times here on FR with absolutely no success.
705 posted on 12/11/2001 12:23:16 PM PST by Economist_MA
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To: Skywalk
You're a level headed sort...

A question: if I know that a particular woman has engaged in numerous casual sexual encounters, what might I reasonably guess about her emotional state of mind?

Let's assume that she still retains something of a feminine attitude and mixes together sex and emotion. What are the chances she would be emotionally damaged?

706 posted on 12/11/2001 12:26:37 PM PST by Gumption County
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To: k2blader
I was hoping to hear why virginity is precious before I left for the day. Would someone enlighten me?
707 posted on 12/11/2001 12:26:50 PM PST by stuartcr
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To: pcl
Any statistic that admits a margin of error of 100% is absurd.

First off, there is nothing that remotely relates to a 100% margin of error. The statement simply states that if a copuple cohabitates prior to marriage, the likelyhood of divorce is 50-100% greater. This can in no way be confused with a "margin of error".

Here is an example (I did not read the article, but am addressing only the faulty logic of your statement). If marriage partners who did not cohabitate prior to marriage end up divorcing 30% of the time, then a 100% increase (a 60% divorce rate) is certainly possible.

708 posted on 12/11/2001 12:27:08 PM PST by connectthedots
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To: tortoise
The types of people who choose not to co-habitate almost certainly have different statistical behaviors in marriage as well, so you are essentially looking at two different populations in parallel, not an average statistical population that has been normalized for personal belief systems. Many of the same people who don't believe in cohabitation also don't believe in divorce, or believe in divorce only in the most extreme circumstances.

You have studies of course to back up your claims? Or are you basing this upon your own experiences?

BTW, tortoise, some of the claims you have made on this thread are at quite a variance with those that you made on the "Asian girls" thread. But let's not be worry about being consistent....

709 posted on 12/11/2001 12:28:36 PM PST by independentmind
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To: stuartcr
I was hoping to hear why virginity is precious before I left for the day. Would someone enlighten me?

Men want to marry virgins, because virgins have no idea that you are bad in bed or an inconsiderate lover.

710 posted on 12/11/2001 12:28:51 PM PST by NeoCaveman
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To: Economist_MA
A+. If I could only get my students to understand sample-selection bias as well as you do. I am afraid though that your explanation will be completely ignored, I have tried similar lines of reasoning several times here on FR with absolutely no success.

Yes, most of us here on FR probably fall far below your intelligence level, oh learned one. That explains why you dodged the statistical evidence about Catholics and divorce rates.

711 posted on 12/11/2001 12:30:33 PM PST by independentmind
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To: connectthedots
First off, there is nothing that remotely relates to a 100% margin of error. The statement simply states that if a copuple cohabitates prior to marriage, the likelyhood of divorce is 50-100% greater. This can in no way be confused with a "margin of error".

Thank you for pointing this out.

712 posted on 12/11/2001 12:33:28 PM PST by independentmind
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To: dubyaismypresident
Finally a logical answer.
713 posted on 12/11/2001 12:34:29 PM PST by stuartcr
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To: dubyaismypresident
Men want to marry virgins, because virgins have no idea that you are bad in bed or an inconsiderate lover.

Better to find someone who has a reason to believe you're the best.

714 posted on 12/11/2001 12:39:08 PM PST by js1138
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To: js1138
Better to find someone who has a reason to believe you're the best.

How about just being her best.

715 posted on 12/11/2001 12:40:39 PM PST by NeoCaveman
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To: independentmind
That explains why you dodged the statistical evidence about Catholics and divorce rates.

Yes, the divorce rate for Catholics is lower; those guys living in their Medieval fiefdom over there have been successful in that regard. But do you care to give us any statistics on cheating?

716 posted on 12/11/2001 12:42:56 PM PST by Cu Roi
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To: Jadge
I don't think it is wise to discount the importance of sexual compatibility in a relationship. How are you going to know if you are compatible unless you have sex? In my opinion, your wedding night is too late.

Your thinking is utterly polluted.

Good sex happens in the heart and in the mind. The body then follows along.

A man and woman who love each other will be sexually compatible unless there is some physical problem with one or both of them. And if that's the case, it most likely will not matter to the other, because the love part is more important than the sex part.

People like you who are able to disconnect the physical part from the spiritual and emotional part are in for a plethora of additional problems.

717 posted on 12/11/2001 12:43:21 PM PST by brewcrew
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To: stuartcr
Finally a logical answer.

Logic can still be found at FR, sometimes it takes 700 posts to find.

718 posted on 12/11/2001 12:43:30 PM PST by NeoCaveman
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To: brewcrew
People like you who are able to disconnect the physical part from the spiritual and emotional part are in for a plethora of additional problems.

Finally, some wisdom. :o)

719 posted on 12/11/2001 12:48:02 PM PST by independentmind
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To: F16Fighter
A survey has also found that three in ten believe it is acceptable for a girl to lose her virginity before age 15.

The other 7 didn't survive the confrontation with her father....

Thank God my girls are both beyond that age and raised better than that...they both know how I would have reacted to a scenario like this...I made sure they knew!

720 posted on 12/11/2001 12:48:29 PM PST by nobdysfool
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