Catherine M.

Arpilleda BSBA-major in MARKETING MANAGEMENT

SOC.PHILO

My perception about pre marital sex

A non-legible proportion of today's Filipino youth engage in pre-marital sex. Raymundo and Lusterio (1995) found 18 percent of the youth (26% of the boys and 10% of the girls) all over the country have had pre]-marital sex experience. The study found that two social institutions- the Church and the home have important bearings on pre-marital sex behavior. What are the youth's views on pre-marital sex? Is virginity still highly valued among youth? What factors are related to the views they hold? PRE-MARITAL SEX Only 12.8 percent of the youth categorically approved of a woman having sex before marriage. More than twice as many male respondents approved of the behavior (18.4%) than their female counterparts (7.5%). % Approving of Sex before Marriage of a Woman a Man % N % N Males: 18.4 5234 40.6 5241 Single 16.8 4708 38.4 4717 Married 32.2 526 60.4 524 Females: 7.6 5601 - - Single 3.5 4277 - - Married 20.8 1324 - - Both Sexes: 12.8 10834 - However, when the male youth were asked whether they approved of a man having sex before marriage, 40.6 percent responded affirmatively with a significantly higher proportion shown by the married (60.4%) than the singles (38.4%). Perhaps pre-marital sexual experience among the married was a common experience thus explaining the higher proportion approving among them than the singles most of whom may not even have been engaged or bethed. VIRGINITY Views on woman's virginity were asked in two ways: (1) its importance to male and female respondents themselves, and (2) their perception of its importance to men. Virginity of a woman before marriage is still important value to majority (91.5%) of thee youth today. Twice as many (61.1%) felt that female virginity was very important as those whom felt it was just important (30.4%). % Feeling Virginity of a Woman is Important Before Marriage Very Impor- Impor- Both N tant tant Males: 55.6 34.2 89.8 5228 Single 55.8 34.3 90.1 4702 Married 53.8 33. 1 86.9 526 Females: 66.2 26.9 93.1 5602 Single 70.0 25.1 95.1 4728 Married 54.1 32.8 86.9 1324 Both Sexes: 61.1 30.4 91.5 10829

Slightly more female youth (93.1%) valued female virginity as an important virtue before marriage than male youth (89.8%). Moreover, significantly more females (66.2%) than males (55.6%) felt virginity was very important The data indicate that female virginity before marriage is still highly valued by almost all the youth today and this virtue was considered very important to more than two-thirds of the single females (70.0%), but to only slightly half among single males (55.6%), married females (54.1%) and married males (53.8%). The fact of being male and being married tended to reduce the importance of female virginity before marriage. The perception of the importance of virginity to men overall was held at a lower than the youth's own value. Eighty percent of all the youth perceived virginity important in the choice of a wife. This level, however, varied between males and females, and between the married and the singles. Slightly more female (81.5%) than male (79.4%) youth perceived that men consider virginity important in the choice of a wife, but significantly more singles (81.5%) than married (75.6%) held the same perception. The married appeared to hold a lower perception of the value of female virginity in a man's choice of a wife than the singles. % Perceiving Virginity a Consideration of Men in Choice of a Wife % N Males: 79.4 5225 Singles 79.9 4699 Married 75.1 526 Females: 81.5 5996 Singles 83.3 4274 Married 75.9 1322 Both Sexes: 80.5 10821 Singles 81.5 8973 Married 75.6 1848 FACTORS RELATED TO PRE-MARITAL SEX VIEWS Approval of a Woman Having Sex Before Marriage (Table 1) Approval of a woman having sex before marriage was positively related with age Respondents 15-17 had significantly lower approval of a woman having pre-marital sex (7.7%) than those 1820 (13.2%) or those aged 21-24 (18.3%). Youth who ever-lived away from parents had significantly higher approval rates (15.1%) than those who never lived away from parents. Those who attended private schools had significantly lower approval rates (10.8%) than those who attended non-sectarian (14.5%) schools. Religiosity (measured by frequency of church attendance) was negatively related with approval rates. Those who attended Church services once a week or more frequently had a significantly lower approval rate (10.9%) than those who attended less than once a week (15.6%) or who never attended Church services (16.1%) at all. Social activities such as frequenting discos, going to massage parlors, having nights out with friends, going to night clubs/strips shows, and frequenting beer houses were significantly associated with higher approval rates than not having of these social activities. Approval rates among those who frequented discos, massage parlors and spent night-outs with friends were around 16 percent, while those who went to night clubs showed an approval rate of 20 percent and to beer houses 26 percent. Those who never had any of these activities showed approval rates between 11 and 12 percent. High risk behaviors such as smoking, drinking and use of dangerous drugs were all significantly associated with higher approval rates than not having any of these behaviors.

Indicators of socio-economic status such as household characteristics, mother's and father's education, and mother's and father's occupation all were negatively associated with approval rates. That is, lower status was significantly associated with higher approval rates while higher status with lower approval rates. Stability of parent's marriage was significantly related with lower approval rates while nonstability (including parents separated, one parent dead) was significantly related with higher approval rates. Being raised by the father alone was associated with lower than average approval rates (11.1%), but being raised by father and other person was associated with significantly higher approval rate (21.3%). On the other hand, being raised by mother alone was associated with higher than average approval rate (14.5%), but being raised by mother and other person was associated with lower than average approval rate (10.8%). Being raised by other persons was associated with above average approval rate (16.0%). Fathers are often considered disciplinarians while mothers are often prone to "spoil" their children. Father's influences appear to promote conservatism while mother's influences engender permissiveness among the youth. What is interesting is the fact that youth raised by a parent and another person tended to swing the youth's attitude towards pre-marital sex for women in the opposite direction. While those who were raised by other persons tended to promote liberal attitudes towards pre-marital sex among women. Approval of a Man Having Sex Before Marriage (for male R's only) (Table 2) Approval of a man having sex before marriage showed very similar relationship in the factors that were found related to its approval for a women except that the levels were about four times higher (40.6% vs. 12.8%). There were, however, three exceptions. Dormitory life emerged to be an important factor. Boys who ever lived in a dormitory showed a significantly higher approval rate (47.3%)than those who never lived in a dorm (39.3%). The other exception was that non-stability of parents marriage was related both with higher and lower than average approval rates unlike approval rates of pre-marital sex among women where this was related to higher approval rates . For male youths who considered their parent's marriage somewhat stable or are separated, approval rates were lower than average (34-39%), while those who considered their parent's marriage was unstable or one parents is dead, the approval rates were higher than average (42-43%). Parent's marital instability had varied effects on views or male pre-marital sex among the male respondents. Being raised by father alone, mother alone or parent with another person were associated with approval of pre-marital sex among men in much the same way as they did with attitudes o n premarital sex among women. There was however one difference. Being raised by other persons was associated with more conservative attitudes towards pre- marital sex among men. Others persons apparently have stronger moral influence/control over male youths attitudes than both father and mother but this influence was weaker than that of father alone. Importance of Woman's Virginity Before Marriage (all R's) (Table3)

The importance to themselves of virginity before marriage declined with age of respondent. Almost all youths 15-17 years of age (93.7%) felt this was an important virtue, a slightly lower proportion was exhibited by those 18-20 years (91.6) and the lowest proportion by those 21-24 years of age (88.9%). Living away from parents was associated with lower than average importance of virginity before marriage (90.6%) while living with parents was associated with higher than average importance (93.2%). Attendance in private exclusive schools was significantly related with lower importance of virginity before marriage (88.6%) than attendance in private coed (91.2%) schools. More frequent (greater than or more than once a week) Church attendance was associated with higher importance of virginity before marriage (92.2%) than less frequent (lesser than once a week) attendance (90.5%) or no attendance in church services (90.95). Social activities such as engaging in fraternity/sonority activities, spending nights-out with friends, going to night club/strip shows and going to beer houses were all associated with significantly lower importance of virginity before marriage than never having engaged in this activity. High risk behaviors such as smoking, drinking alcoholic beverages and use of dangerous drugs all were associated with significantly lower importance of virginity those marriages than not having these high risk behaviors. Being an only child was significantly related with greater importance of virginity before marriage (97.9%) than being one of two or more siblings (91-93%) in the family. Socio- economic status was indexed by mother' and father's levels of education. Low educational status (elementary or high-school) of both father mothers was associated with lower importance of virginity before marriage. Stability of parents marriage was associated with higher importance of virginity. Significantly more youth who perceived their parents marriage as stable or somewhat stable felt virginity was important (92.1%) while far fewer of those whose parents were separated felt it was important (87.0%). Perceived Importance of Female Virginity to Men (all R's) (Table 4) Significantly lower urban youth perceived a women's virginity before marriage is important in the choice of wife among the men (78.5%) than those who lived in rural areas (83.0%). Age of respondents was negatively related to perceived importance of virginity among men . A significantly higher proportion among youths age was 15-17 perceived virginity is important to men (84.2%) than those aged 18-20 (80.5%) or those aged 21-24 (76.2%).

A significantly lower proportion of youth who ever - lived in a city (78.3%) perceived virginity is important to men than those who never lived in a city (81.9%). Attendance in private coed schools was associated with a significantly lower proportion perceiving virginity is important to men (77.5%) than attendance in public (82.1%) or private exclusive (79.4%) schools Attendance in non-sectarian (75.8%) or private Catholic (78.6%) schools was associated with lower than average perception of the importance of virginity to men while Protestant and other non- Catholic private was associated with higher average than perception (81.5%). Social activities such as frequenting massage parlor (77.9%), going to movies (79.6%), engaging in fraternity/sorority activities (77.8%), spending nights-out with friends(79.6%), going to shows/nights clubs (73.2%) and frequenting beer houses (72.9%) all were significantly associated with lower perception of importance of virginity to men than those who never engaged in these activities. Non- sociable youth showed percentages between 81-82 percent. Risk behaviors such as smoking, drinking alcoholic beverages and use of dangerous drugs all showed significantly lower than average perception of the importance of virginity to men (7277%). In contrast , youth who never engaged in any of these risk behavior showed significantly higher than average perception (81-84%). Youth who ever-lived in a dormitory showed significantly lower proportion perceiving the importance of virginity to men (78.5%) than those who never-lived in a dormitory (81.0%). Socio-economic as indexed by home appliance ownership and mother's and father's education were all negatively associated with perception of the importance of virginity to men. The lower the socio-economic status, the higher is the perception of the importance of virginity to men Youth who judged their parents marriage as stable or somewhat stable showed significantly higher proportions who perceived virginity is important in the choice of wife to men (80-83%), than those whose parent's marriage was deemed unstable, parents are separated or one parent is dead (76-79%). Being raised by both parents, father alone or father with other persons were all associated with higher proportion who perceived the importance of virginity to men (80-82%), while being by mother alone or mother with other persons was associated with lower proportion of the same perception(78-79%),. Being raised by other persons was associated with the lowest proportion who perceived the importance of virginity to men 975.6%). E. Summary Sex and of Factors Associated with Views on Premarital with Perceptions on Virginity Pre-marital Sex Views

Approval of pre- marital sex among women and men was positively related with age, having lived away from parents, attendance in non-sectarian schools and less frequent or no attendance in church services. This supports the findings of Raymundo and Lusterio (1995) which highlighted the influence of the school and the church on per-marital sex behavior. Experience of city living was associated with greater approval of pre-marital sex for men but not for the women. Apparently, male views (who were only the respondents to the questions on pre- marital sex of men was greatly influenced by exposure to the city living than their views on pre-marital sex of women. Engaging in social activities were almost invariably associated with higher approval of pre marital sex. Approval of pre- marital sex among women and among men was highest for those who go to strip shows/night clubs and beer houses, and for men engaging in fraternity activities. Risk behavior such as smoking, drinking and use of drugs were all associated with higher approval of per-marital sex among women and among men. Of the three behaviors, use of drugs showed the highest approval of rates. Dormitory living was significantly related with higher approval of pre- marital sex among men but was not significantly related with approval rates for women. Apparently, the male pre-marital sex views are influenced by dormitory life than those who never lived in dorms. Being an only child was associated with lower approval of pre-marital sex among women and men. This may reflect more parental control exerted on the only child than on greater number of siblings. Social status, regardless of indicators used, showed negative relationships with pre-marital sex approval for the women and the men. Youth who belong to the lower strata of the society are more liberal on their pre-marital sex views than those in the upper strata of society. Stability of parent's marriage was negatively associated with pre-marital sex among women and among men than those who belong to families with unstable marital relationships. Youth raised by father alone was associated with significantly proportion of pre-marital sex approval for both women and men, while youth raised by mother alone with significantly higher approval. Youth raised by both mother and father held average approval rates. However, youth raised by father and other persons showed significantly higher approval rates while those who raised by mother and other person with significantly lower approval rates. Parental control appears highest with single parenting as reflecting by more conservative pre-marital sex views, becomes laxed when raised by father and another person, and becomes stricter when raised by mother and another person. Virginity: Its Importance and Perception Virginity of a woman before marriage is still highly valued trait among (91.5%) of male and female youth today. However, youth perception of its importance to men in the choice of wife appeared to be held at a lower level (80.5%). As the youth become older, the importance to

themselves and the perception of the importance of virginity decline. Of the two views, the importance of virginity declined much less with age (by 5.1%) than the perception of its importance to men in the choice of a wife (9.5%). There is thus more stability in individual respondents perception of its importance than in the perception of its importance to men in the choice of wife. Both perceptions of virginity's importance to the youth themselves and to men in the choice of a wife were related in a similar ways to various personal and familial background factors as well as to social behaviors. These are: Experience of living in a city was associated with significantly lower importance of virginity than not having lived in a city at all. Living away from parents was associated with significantly lower importance of virginity than not having lived in a city from parents. Attending private exclusive schools was associated with significantly lower importance of virginity than a public or private coed school. Less frequent church attendance was associated with lower importance of virginity than attending church services once a week or frequently. Mother's and father's education was negatively associated with importance of virginity. Youth whose parents who reached elementary and high-school showed higher proportions who considered virginity important than those whose parents reached college. Youth who considered their parents marriage as stable was associated with significantly higher proportions who considered virginity important than those who reported their parents marriage was unstable. Youth who engaged in fraternity/sonority activities, went nights-out with friends, went to night clubs/strip shows, and frequented beer houses were more likely to consider virginity important than who never engaged in this activities. High risk behaviors such as smoking, drinking and use of dangerous drugs were all associated with lower importance of virginity than not engaging in high risk behaviors. Perhaps the greater instability held on the importance of virginity to men may be due to the fact that urban residence and dormitory experience were significantly associated with perceived importance of virginity to men but these factors were not significantly related with the importance of virginity to themselves. RELATIONSHIP OF PRE-MARITAL SEX VIEWS AND BEHAVIOR The data thus far point to the fact that the males are in general more liberal in their views in premarital sex than the females. Being married increases this liberal attitude but the male-female

differential still persists. Does pre-marital sex experience influence this view? Significantly higher proportions of those with pre-marital sex experience approved of pre-marital sex for a woman (33.8%) than those who have not had pre-marital sex experience (8.7%). There did not seem to be any differential between males and females in approval rates among those who had pre-marital sex experience. However, for those without pre-marital sex experience, significantly more males approved than females. Apparently, those who had pre-marital sex experience tended to justify or rationalize their behavior by adopting favorable attitudes towards pre-marital sex than those who had no pre-marital sex experience. Having had pre-marital sex experience was significantly associated with higher approval of premarital sex for men (66.3%) than those who have not had pre-marital sex (33.2%) experience. UNMARRIED PARENTHOOD Views on unmarried parenthood were directly elicited by the following question: "Now, if an unmarried woman got pregnant by a man she likes but with whom she has not discussed marriage, which one of the following do you think she ought to do? Should she: Try to end pregnancy (abortion) Have the baby and put it up for abortion Have the baby and keep it even without getting married Try to get him to marry her Other(SPECIFY) Majority (58.2%) of the youth respondents felt they should "have the baby and keep it even without getting married" , over a third felt she should "try to get him to marry her " (36.1%) and only a few felt she should "have the baby and it up for abortion "(4.1%) or "try to end the pregnancy" (1.5%). More important differences were observed between male and female respondents, than between the singles and the married .over two-thirds (69.3%) of female respondents felt they would keep the baby and over one-fourth (26.8%) said they would marry the father of the child, while almost half of male respondents felt the women should keep the baby even without getting married (46.3%) and another half felt the women should marry the father of the child (46.2%). The male youth thus felt they should stand by their acts, while the female youth felt greater responsibility for the child than in forcing a marriage. ACCEPTABILITY OF AN UNMARRIED MOTHER To gauge the depth of the respondent's perception on unmarried parenthood, five reference groups were used in which the respondent was asked about the acceptability to the group of a young unmarried mother. The question was: ''Do you think the following groups of the people will accept a young unmarried mother?" a. Society, in general b. People in this neighborhood c. Her closest girlfriend

d. Her family e. Her male friends The perceived acceptability of a young unmarried mother to the youth was lowest to people in their immediate neighborhood (78.6%) and to society in general (80.0%).It was slightly higher to her male friends (81.9%) and to her family (84.6%) but it was highest to her closest girl friends (83.8%). The youth to rely on greater moral from their peers than from their family, and they perceive the neighborhood and society to be less sympathetic to this problem. The perceived acceptability of a young unmarried mother was generally lower for the females than for the males and for the singles than for the married. The dishonor of an out-of-wedlock pregnancy was perceived to weigh more heavily on the female than on the male. Somehow, being married appeared to diminish the sense of shame that this situation is perceived to bring. FACTORS RELATED TO UNMARRIED PARENTHOOD VIEWS What factors are related to these views and perceptions on unmarried parenthood? Two types of factors are considered. First are the proximate factors such as knowledge/awareness of unmarried friends engaging in sexual intercourse, of unmarried friends who became pregnant while unmarried, of unmarried woman continuing with the pregnancy, and of unmarried friends getting married as a result of pregnancy? These factors are considered proximate in the sense that awareness of them may directly influence the youth views on unmarried parenthood. Second, are the background factors such personal characteristics, social activities, high risk behavior, and family of orientation which may directly or indirectly influence the youth's views on unmarried parenthood since they determine to process of youth socialization. Knowledge of friends engaging in pre-marital sex was 38.8 percent for all respondents. This knowledge was nearly twice higher among males than among females, and much higher among the married than singles. Of all respondents, 18.6 percent knew of friends who got pregnant while unmarried, 15.6 percent knew of friends who continued with the pregnancy, and only 10.6 percent knew of some who married the father of the child. Differentials in levels of knowledge followed a consistent pattern, that is, the married exhibited significantly higher knowledge than the single respondents, and the male showed slightly higher knowledge than the female respondents. This findings suggests that the lower acceptability of a young unmarried mother among the female than among the male respondents, and for the singles than the married in general is because the levels of awareness on these events for the female respondents was lower than the males, and for the singles lower than the married.

Premarital Sex: Advantages and Disadvantages What are the advantages and disadvantages of premarital sex?

The change in the 20th century of American society in the scope of premarital sex is the dramatically increasing of premarital sex behavior. According to the survey data, in the past, premarital sex rate was low, and premarital sex will often lead to marriage. Women born in the 1900s, only 8% had premarital sex before the age of 20; women born from 1910 to 1919, the rate of premarital sex increased to 23 %. According to the 1974 National Survey data, adults, 25 years of age, 97% of men and 81% of women had premarital sex. France in 1972, the survey indicates that 29 years of age, 75% of men and 55% of women have had sexual relations before marriage. The most extreme figures from Sweden, the ratio of men and women that have premarital sex experience is as high as 99%. In other words, in Sweden, people enjoy the high degree of sexual freedom and gender equality. Premarital sex experience benefits us both physically and psychologicallyconducive to health, because of the urgent need, not towed until adulthood. According to psychological studies, it shows that when the organs of our body become mature because of hormone secretion. Psychologically, people will, accordingly with the changes, have sexual desire, which is normal. If the desire cannot be satisfied, it will affect peoples work, learning, and life. However, it varies according to the different people some are very strong, and some are very weak. When people are with a strong desire, the so-called sexual energy, they can temporarily alleviate the sexual energy produced by having sex, which can give them a happy feeling, and a sense of achievement.

The Side Effects of Premarital Sex Experience

Many modern young women do not mind the long-term relationship. They think that as long as men love them, they do not care about if it is a long relationship. In fact, these women can only see the surface. They do not know what would happen later actually. Premarital sex in general has occurred in the students and those without a stable source of community among the youths. They have sex because sex is something curious for them, and they will not be responsible, or in any obligations. When the sexual desire is gone, and something unexpected happens, some of them have the psychological fear, inferiority. Because premarital sex occurred in the majority of those who lack the knowledge of sex and experience, they may be pregnant after having sex, which may do great harm to these women physically and psychologically. Some of the disease once infected, there is no way to treat the disease, such as AIDS. According to analysis and what we discussed above, I think premarital sexual experience has pros and cons, and by and large, the benefit of premarital sex is far less than the disadvantages. How to solve the problem of premarital sex behavior still remain an arduous task and a problem for us to

Narlyn J. Toralba BSBA-major in MARKETING MANAGEMENT

SOC.PHILO

My perception about pre marital sex Premarital Sex throughout Three Generations
As our group discussed the various interviews we issued, we found a few common themes that connected each generation, but we also made important discoveries that denied our presuppositions of sex amongst the older generations. Of course, the answers we found in our own generation were not as surprising, as we have been surrounded and socialized by the same cultural forces that shaped our peers attitudes and beliefs. First, our grandparents married younger, much younger than our parents generation and our generation. Therefore, they had fewer sexual partners and were more likely to marry their "high school sweetheart" to whom which they lost their virginity. We assumed that our grandparents did not have sex until marriage, and we assumed that the norm for their generation was to wait. However, we discovered premarital sex occurred just as frequently in our grandparent's generation as our parent's generation. Amongst our different sets of grandparents, only one couple waited until marriage. The difference between the older two generations related to the extent of privacy regarding sex. Our grandparents did it, but they did not talk about it. Conversations of sexual ventures and activities were not discussed between friends, families, or in movies, and very seldom, albeit covertly, in music. This level of privacy made our generation believe sex as uncommon and taboo in our grandparents generation. Especially when media projects the image of the "nuclear family" among this era where the pious housewife remained as such, with no spoils to her chastity. What we found is that our material culture, the movies and television and ads we see involving our grandparent's generation, affected our interpretation of the nonmaterial culture of that generation. We drew from shows like "I Love Lucy," where the characters are almost asexual, and movies like Pleasantville that paint a picture of moral, upstanding citizens who could never dream of sex before marriage, and formed our own opinions on the values and beliefs important to that generation. All we needed to do was ask our grandparents about their life and we immediately tore down the constructions media so craftily instilled in our minds. With the increasing prevalence of sexual imagery in advertisements, movies, television and music we inferred that sex over time became more common, more prevalent. Whereas sex was always common, at least dating back to our grandparents, it has become less connected to marriage. Commonality, however, did not lessen its severity or importance. Our interviews revealed that sex among all generations is still viewed as important. The act is meaningful, with serious connections, and mostly shared with someone you love or care deeply for. The issue, it seems, is the rising age of first marriage. Kids our generation want to get a degree and start their career before they settle down and marry, this may happen as late as their 30's. If our grandparents married at 18, and our generation marries at 30, an additional twelve years of celibacy is expected of our generation, this is unlikely. This shows a shift of cultural norms. Men and

women are concerned with careers, willing to put off family building (marriage) until job security is ensured. Though they are willing to put off marriage, they are much less likely to hold off on sex. This trend started in our parent's generation and spread even faster among ours. For our grandmother's, the opportunity to work was limited. Men worked, women stayed at home. Women's roles have shifted from a housewife, to a working woman (if she chooses), now the decision to stay at home is a personal choice rather than an obligation. As my group considered what sociological theory would help explain the differences in sexual behavior across three generations we challenged each other's hypotheses, arguing for three different theories: reflection theory, labeling theory and control theory. Reflection theory applied to our study because one could argue that movies, television and songs do not influence us to have sex, they simply reflect the behaviors and actions already prominent in our society. This may be true, to a certain extent, but this theory does not accurately represent, or "reflect," our grandparent's generation, since most of them did have premarital sex. Control theory applies more closely. If any of the people interviewed considered themselves highly religious, or a devout follower of their faith, then their attachment to that institution prohibited them from premarital sex. In contrast, if a person was highly committed to his/her work, or finding a job, then their commitment to getting married lessened, and led to more premarital sex. Overall, however, sex was regarded as a personal choice. People admitted to soaking in their parent's wishes, the behavior of their friends, the images of the media, etc. but in the end they decided for themselves whether or not sex was right for them. We discovered labeling theory as the only theory that did not apply, at least to some extent, to our study. Our grandparent's and parents could not recall a single case when the threat of a label deterred them from intercourse. Or even a case when a label already attached to someone, e.g. "slut," altered their behavior in any way. In the first place, the older generations did not talk as freely about sex. Since sex was not talked about as openly in the older generations, there may have been less opportunity to point out the deviant, or maybe since sex was more common than we thought labels became irrelevant since the behavior was not truly deviant. Across all three generations, though, every person could remember at least someone from their school that carried the stigma of "slut" or "whore." Not surprisingly, these label-wearers were always female. Before beginning my interviews I thought labeling theory would explain the difference in behavior across the three generations. I assumed the threat of a label in my grandparent's generation would deter them from sexual intercourse, whereas in my generation the threat of a label would not hold the same implications because the treatment of sex over time has become more lax and lenient. For my parent's, I viewed their generation as caught in the middle, with some anxiety for being labeled by society but as the trend toward sex before marriage grew stronger, that anxiety would lessen. I was completely wrong. Labeling theory held no wait. My grandparent's had sex, and people their age had sex, the act was common. Their generation simply had the good sense not to kiss and tell. The act happened, but stories and gossip surrounding the act were not exchanged. Either their peers did not explicitly know whether or not they had sex, and therefore could not apply a label, or everyone had sex and therefore premarital sex lost its threat as a "deviant" act. As my grandma put it, "People had sex before marriage. Even young people had sex. But sex was not as in your face as it is today. It happened, but it was never acknowledged."If primary deviations are the common everyday norm violations, and secondary deviations occur when one has come to think of himself differently because of his deviant behavior and thereby come to assume the role of a deviant, then I found zero examples of secondary

deviance and almost all my interviewees performed primary deviations by partaking in premarital sex. Secondary deviance is produced by societal reactions to deviant behavior, but if the deviant behavior is not known and no label can be attached then no societal reaction can ensue (if a tree falls in the forest and theres no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?). To this extent, I found that no one's parents ever had "the talk" or sat them down and explicitly discussed sex. When I asked Matt, 21, whether or not his parents talked to him about sex he replied, "Not really, not much. I got the shortest version of the talk ever. My mom recently talked to me about how she didnt talk to me about it." This contributes to the fact that sex is an extremely private matter, and a very uncomfortable subject to openly discuss. Because of the private treatment of sex, it makes sense that labels did not get attached to particular individuals. Society as a whole cannot know what happens personally behind closed doors. Unless, of course, the behavior is put in your face. When this happens the status of "slut" or "player" attaches to that person. Yet behind these labels is a severe difference, one is negative and the other positive. For females, "slut" is a derogatory term. However, "player" has a celebratory connotation for males, indicating that they have covered and conquered vast female territory. As my group drafted the various questions we would ask our interviewees we denoted an entire section for people who did not have premarital sex. I never asked these questions. Every person I interviewed engaged in premarital sex. Some ended up marrying the person they lost their virginity to, such as my grandparents and my mother, but others indicated several sexual partners. When compiling all of our data, however, we found that you could usually find someone in each generation who refrained from premarital sex, with the reason either being religious or the simple fact that the opportunity had never arisen. This information conveys the idea that sexual behavior varied within each generation, making it hard to identify a particular norm. Media has influenced our perception of certain norms, sometimes accurately and sometimes inaccurately. As media gained influence within my own generation sexual imagery displayed everywhere, desensitizing us to the privacy aspect of sex. Perhaps this is why I assumed premarital sex to be much more common in my generation than my grandparent's generation. I'll end this blog post with some advice from Marian, 21, on the topic of sex: "Wait. At least wait until you're 18. So often people jump into sex and then regret it. You want to make sure you're mature enough to make that decision, and it's not just the whims of a teenage fantasy."

Control Theory and Premarital Sex For our project on premarital sex we decided to examine how sex has been portrayed from generation to generation, starting with our grandparents. These days you hear people talking about teen pregnancy and people spreading diseases to try and deter teenagers away from having sex. Was it like that for our grandparents and our parents? Were they taught sex education in school? To answer these questions I asked three different generations: my grandfather, my parents and two students here at UT. I performed these interviews to find out how long premarital sex has been going on and how its norms in society have changed over time. I was expecting to find through my interviews that my grandparents waited until marriage to have sex, one of my parents waited and the other one didnt and that most of our young generation to have had premarital sex. I thought that the younger generations have been influenced by friends and media to have sex. However, for my grandparents generation, I assumed that most people followed the churchs morals and beliefs, which enforced that sex was for procreation only, making

premarital

sex

uncommon.

In my interviews, I found that premarital sex was common for my grandparents generation and is still common today. A change I observed across the three generations relates to the prominence of sex education in school. I asked all five people if their parents had talked to them about sex, and I got several different answers. My grandfather and my parents both answered no to the question. My mom said, Never. Nor about birth control or the consequences. When I asked the students at UT they both replied yes, that their parents talked to them about sex. The male student I interviewed said, I grew up in a household where sex was talked about at a young age. The female student stated, My mom would talk to me about sex, saying that I should wait until marriage so it is more special with the man who Id be spending the rest of my life with. She said she regretted losing her virginity in college. I believe that my parents generation feels the necessity to teach their children about sex because of personal experiences and concerns. I assume that parents talk to their children more about it these days because it is more open than it used to be. Sex recurs as a common topic in todays society because of school curriculums and the media. Also, parents are stressing concerns because teen pregnancy rates have risen and diseases are becoming prominent and prevalent. Another factor worth considering is the fact that Aids surfaced during my parents generation, scaring most of the people. In contrast, during my grandfathers generation AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases were not as widespread, causing less of a concern to the parents. I think that control theory is a good representation of my findings in the research because you can relate each mechanism to premarital sex. Control theory is social interactions that shape the way people conform to the norms and rules of a certain social group. There are four mechanisms that bring about social control: attachment, commitment, involvement and belief. In this context, attachment would be the relationship between the parent and child. Due to the overabundance of sexual imagery and sex as a topic, parents feel less inclined to encourage kids not to have sex, but rather they emphasize safe sex. If this talk about safe sex or their regrets in regards to sex is handed down to their children, and their children respect their opinion, that becomes the practice they adopt. Through my interviews I learned that, in my generation, emphasis on safe sex from parent to child encouraged an attachment to this practice. However, when my parents and grandparents grew up, emphasizing the consequences of sex was not as important as emphasizing no sex. From an early age the older generations were taught that the norm was to wait until marriage and that was it. But if the children saw this stringent rule as flawed, either because of a weak attachment to religious beliefs or a weak attachment to their parents wishes, they transgressed in their behavior.

Commitment and involvement refers to following certain norms, values and beliefs. My dad and his family attended church regularly, and I think his parents used church as a way to learn and teach certain values surrounding sex. Hoping that consistent involvement in church would lead him to following the churchs beliefs and values. My grandparents assumed that the church had taught my dad the values to wait and have sex so it was not necessary for them to teach him. In the younger generation, we are taught sex education in school, on TV and in the media. This shows the shift in commitment and involvement. The deliverance of values and belief, therefore, shifted from the churchs responsibility to public school, the media, and direct communication of parents to children. As I observed previously, in the older two generations parents did not talk to their children about sex. Viewing the topic as uncomfortable, they left the subject either unattended or allowed other mediums, such as the church, to instill particular values and beliefs. Now, parents talk to their children about sex. Mostly, they want to deliver advice on the subject by speaking about their mistakes and issuing awareness of the consequences of sex. This knowledge is something churches and schools may not cover. Parents are teaching their children that sex can be safe or unsafe instead of just telling them not to have sex. For my parents and grandparents, people engaged in sex most commonly during marriage and for procreation. But as cultural values and ideas towards sex shift to a more liberal treatment, there is increased pressure to transfer knowledge of the possible consequences.

Reflection Theory and Premarital Sex

Attitudes surrounding sex differ from culture to culture. Some are very open to the idea of premarital sex, while others place more value in waiting until marriage. Not only does the attitudes toward sex differ from culture to culture they also change over time. For our sociological project, we interviewed people from 3 different generations in order to gain an understanding of how society perceived premarital sexual relations. I anticipated my grandparent's generation to say they waited until marriage to have sex, and the young kids of today's generation to say they already engaged in sex. I assumed today's generation placed little value on sex and that my grandparent's generation had been much more committed to keeping their virginity until marriage. My results, differed from my expectations in one aspect, but the ideologies in the community surrounding sex were in line with my expectations. To my surprise, all of my grandparents except one had premarital sex. In contrast, two of the people I interviewed representing today's generation had not had sex. The difference is how society regards sex. In regards to my results, Reflection Theory best represents the trends I observed in my interviews. The Reflection Theory presents the idea that culture is a projection of social structure and relationships into the public sphere. The media, institutions, and ideologies during each person's adolescence represent and reflect the current generation's interpretation of sex.

Media changed from generation to generation. In my grandparent's case, TV just began to emerge as they grew up. Internet did not play a significant role in people's lives until the current generation. The TV and movies my grandparents watched differed largely from today's TV and movies. Today, they need a rating system for movies: G, PG, PG13, R. A large reason for the rating system relates to the fact that movies are becoming more and more provocative, and need to be differentiated from child appropriate content. Popular movies switched from The Wizard of Oz and To Kill A Mockingbird, in my grandparent's generation, to American Pie and Bruno (solely based on sexual activities), in my generation. As 46-year old Michael pointed out, "Media (like Playboy) influenced my decision to have sex. We did not have the internet, like today's youth have." Culture influences values, norms, ideologies, and sanctions. Values, or moral beliefs, are largely tied to the church, especially regarding the topic of sex. The Christian Church places heavy emphasis on virginity until marriage. Everyone I interviewed from the older generations admitted they knew it was morally wrong to have sex. As 68-year old Charles put it, "You knew that was the right thing to do [wait until marriage to have sex] and you felt that was the right thing to do, but your friends would judge you." In fact, the two people I interviewed from today's generation who had not had sex are deeply religious. This value of chastity is a projection of social structures and ideologies stemming from the Christian Church. Norms are expectations of behavior in accordance to cultural beliefs. The norm in my grandparent's generation on the issue of premarital sex was to wait until marriage. In my parent's generation, it was no longer the norm. From my interviews, I would conclude in today's generation it is not the norm to wait until marriage to have sex, unless you are strongly tied to the Christian Church. Sex was tightly tied to marriage in older generations. Although, my grandparents did have premarital sex they got married to that same person. I feel this is due to the economic conditions surrounding life in the mid 1900s. For example, all the older generations I interviewed perceived the husband's role as working outside the house to make the money, and the wife's role to cover the domestic sphere. Marriage was a way for a woman and a man to escape their childhood and move out. College was less accessible for them. As 76- year old Lily stated, "It was unacceptable to get pregnant and not be married. When the girl did get pregnant the guy jumped in and married her." I think the opportunities open to men and women during that time were limited, so it was in their best interest to get married. Since they got married so young, many did not experience the prolonged phase of adolescence today's generation inhabits. They had fewer opportunities for exploring and traveling which leads to more encounters and relationships with others. The norms, values, sanctions, ideologies, and laws studied are outgrowths of technology and economic means and opportunities. The Reflection Theory shows that underlying reality influences how ideologies and norms changed from generation to generation. Media displays society's changing attitudes towards sex, and as a result strengthens societies new views by making them the new perceived nor