Premarital sex is
sexual intercourse engaged in by persons
who are
unmarried. It is generally used in
reference to children and adolescents who are presumed not yet of
marriageable age, or between adults
who will presumably marry eventually, but who are engaging in
sexual activity prior to their
marriage.
Different cultures have various views on the
morality of sexual intercourse between unmarried
persons. Some view marriage before sex as completely optional,
while others strongly disapprove of sex outside marriage.
In the United States
In recent
years the morality of premarital sex has become a politically
divisive issue in the United States
, since counselling against premarital sex is the
cornerstone of abstinence-only sex
education, a program advocated by former president George W. Bush and many
conservative members of
the
United States Congress.
The policy is opposed by groups such as
Planned Parenthood and many
liberal and
progressive members of
Congress, and the debate over abstinence-only education has brought
the issue of premarital sex to the forefront of the
Culture Wars. As such, “premarital sex” is a
politically loaded term which some take as "prima facie" evidence
that it can not be used neutrally, using
Extra-marital sex or
Sex without marriage as alternatives.
It should be noted, however, that premarital sex as it is used in
the United States carries with it the connotations about
adolescents or unmarried couples planning long term relationships
listed above.
See also
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