When did it stop being expected that a girl would be a virgin until marriage?

When did it become the norm not to wait until marriage?





Why was it important in the first place? Where did the idea come from?





Why do you think it changed?





What do you think of girls that choose to wait now in modern times?When did it stop being expected that a girl would be a virgin until marriage?
Well, it was important in the first place because if a girl got pregnant outisde of marriage she might be landed with a baby and no father to help look after it. men have always worried about the possiblity of being landed with raising a child that is not theirs, hence th eimportance of women being virgins before marriage, and chaste after marriage.





In some periods of history, like medieval and early modern europe for instance, bethrothal was regarded as being almost legally as binding as marriage, and so it wasn't very unusual for girls to be pregnant when they got married. The same was true of colonial America, since a bethrothal was as binding as marriage (not like a modern engagement).





The availability of very reliable contraception, meaning a woman could have sex with very little worry about becoming pregnant, helped to reduce the importance of vriginity before marriage. There was some loosening ofmoral standards in the 1920s, and from the 1960s,morals generally became much more relaxed.





I think girls who choose to remain virgins until marriage nowadays are adhering to moral standards that some people still consider important. so long as they meet with men who attach the same importance to virginity at marriage, that's fine.





The great problem with today's society, in my opinion, is that many men, while expecting women to be sexually active prior to marriage, resent it if a woman has more than one or two sexual partners. It is avery confused moral system. I thinkmyself it would be better if people could either make up their minds that they want women to be virgins until they marry, or accept that they need not be. All this shilly-shallying about numbers seems to be highly absurd.When did it stop being expected that a girl would be a virgin until marriage?
It became the norm depending on the culture. In matrilineal cultures, sex before marriage wasn't an issue since the baby inherited the mothers name and fertility was most important anyway. Once patrilineal practices caught on, along with agricultural revolutions that stressed the concept of private property (and thus inheritance) it became a problem if there was a possibility of the child not being the husbands or if there was a child without a proper male to give the child an inheritance. Depending on the culture would depend on when this started to change.





Religion was then used later as a form to keep women morally bound from having sex before marriage. Religion, more than anything, is a form of social control--most rules are created to keep the society within certain confines and rules. Sex before marriage became an issue for inheritance and thus religion was used to restrict the problem.





It changed when 1) religion was less forced on individuals, 2) women were more in a position to provide for themselves 3) preventative pregnancy methods became more available to women.





Its a person's choice to wait or not wait for marriage. I see nothing wrong with either choice as long as the person is making the choice themselves and not having it forced upon them by an outside source.
For a girl not to hold on to her virginity, must have become a norm, I would have thought in the late 90's, but saying that I was born in the 80's, so I can just go back to what I can remember.





The idea was brought up by religion, and I guess its morals as well, dependent on the person.





I think the idea to accept sex before marriage, is played largely by showbiz, like music videos, television programs, magazines.





For a girl to wait now, in this current climate, would be very good to see, as times change people's views change, one of the factors for a girl to lose her virginity could be pear pressure, from her friends.
when it was felt that the obligation was only on women's side. I think it was much more important in the days before contraception than it is now.


The pill changed it.


If a girl wants to wait until marriage, that is her perogative. She will be preventing the chance of an unplanned pregnancy and all the trauma that goes with that, she will be avoiding stds.


She might also however be reducing the chance of a viable relationship.
Allow me to give some links.





http://www.pepysdiary.com/ --the diary of Samuel Pepys. A 17th century man whose diary is the most important artifact in discovering the culture and lifestyles of his time.





http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=U9QXG鈥?/a>





A sneak peek to a book about the Sexuality of Medieval Europe





http://www.victorianlondon.org/-- an internet library on primary sources of the Victorian Times. Take a look at the category on sex and consent.





http://www.everything-condoms.com/condom鈥?/a>





http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_187鈥?/a>


A discovered artifact which is a condom dating back to 1640 AD.





Okay, now who else still believes that people are sensible, chaste and more proper than we are back then?
I think it happened when women stopped thinking they were somebody worth waiting for. The age of equality has made a lot of women feel like they have to start behaving like men, which means drinking a lot and sleeping around with whoever they fancy. Sure that could be fun for a while, but when they get older they soon start to find out that no guy likes to date an old slapper. It's socially acceptable for an older man to date a younger woman, but it's more looked down upon the other way around.





Most young men don't want to date women who remind them of their mother, and most older guys prefer to date younger women too. It's unfair yes - but sadly very true. This is why the smart girls dig their claws in while they're still young and turn their man on to the idea of getting married. It's clever when you think about it that way.





lol. :-)
We shouldn't expect them to be a virgin until marriage. But they shouldn't expect men to want them so much.





Louise C made an intresting point. A girl who fell pregnant outside of marriage runs the risk of bringing the child up on her own. Yet the vast majority of divorce cases where the child actually had a father, are filed by women (And we all know the outcome of most custody battles).....So who is really responsible for women having to raise their kids on their own??





@Alex- ';who else still believes that people are sensible, chaste and more proper than we are back then?';%26lt;-- I was tempted to say the same thing...But no one woulda listened. Its why ';Bastards'; were such an issue back then because of their legitimacy. However on the whole, sexually, we were slightly better behaved....Particularly among the upper-class (I'm talkin medeival)
im pretty sure the idea came from a religious point in some form or another.





I would say it changed just like everything else does.


I mean 10-20 years ago you would never see mild nudity being used to endorse a product. But now a huge percentage of Adverdisements use it because it sells so well.





As for the ones who wait i don't care it's totally up to them. but i probably wouldn't go out with one because if we never ended up getting married it would have been a waste. And sexual experience between partners is a must to keep the relationship alive.
During the 60's, when the counterculture protested by ';making love, not war';. The importance of a girl being a virgin for her husband rose out of sexism towards women. It changed when women started getting more rights and when contraceptives were introduced. Every girl/woman makes that choice for herself.
IDK I wouldn't really have a problem with this whole virginity thing if men were expected to do it to, but the fact that they aren't shows that it isn't really about ';morals'; or whatever, it's just that men find virgins sexier that's all, you're not a better or worse person for sleeping around, otherwise men wuld get judged for it too.
When birth control was invented and mass-marketed. If girls choose to wait now, that's fine, but I really don't like the people who act so sanctimonious about their virginity maintenance.
It hasn't stopped. Most conservative english families still expect that. as do many other cultures.
60's.





Religion.





The average IQ went up.





It's up to her.
During the 70's when the Feminist movement became big.
Since time began , dear , it's just more widly broadcast now .
when they invented the pill and condoms
i agree with number one