Happy New Year. Yes, it's belated, but not overly so. I've been a tad bit out of it since arriving in New Mexico. I think that's what happens when you visit Truth or Consequences. It's like nothing matters except soaking in the hot springs. And trust me, these hot springs are magical and medicinal.
Since I'm all about being belated (not bloated, except that I am that too, damn too much eating around the new year)...here's one from last year...
People who aren’t married are having sex. Is that the craziest thing you’ve ever heard or what?!
Okay, even if it’s not – here’s the deal. A study in the December issue of the Public Health Reports uncovered the shocking statistic that 9 out of 10 American men and women have premarital sex. Yes, that’s right, only 1 out of 10 men and women aren’t having sex before they’re married. If we looked at this in terms of the population, and expanded our thought process here, that would mean that 10% of the US population is not having pre-marital sex.
This mind-blowing information leaves me thinking that it’s about time someone stated the obvious. What’s more amazing is that pre-marital sex isn’t a new concept. In fact, women born in the 1940s are also giving it up for free.
According to Lawrence Finer, the author of this earth-shattering study, “This is a reality check. Premarital sex is normal behavior for the vast majority of Americans, and has been for decades.” Crunching the numbers, from various years of the National Survey of Family Growth, a total of 38,000 people, and approximately 33,000 women, responded with a resounding “Hell Yeah” to sex before marriage. And of those scandalous creatures, 99% of the 38,000 people who answered “hell, yeah” to this survey not only had sex by the age of 44, but 95% of them had done it some time before they tied the knot before age 44.
Even among a sub group of people who remained virgins after high school, four-fifths were doing it by the end of their teens. Statistically, women were almost as likely as men to have sex before wifedom. Of the women born between 1950 and 1978, at least 91 percent had done it without a marriage license by the age of 30.
Why should we care? Well, because the government of the United States is in total denial that people will have sex regardless of their marital status. Finer argues that his findings are more proof in the pudding. "It would be more effective to provide young people with the skills and information they need to be safe once they become sexually active -- which nearly everyone eventually will," he recently told the Associated Press.
So, while the government preaches that the only way to teach safer sex is to promote abstinence only until marriage, it’s more than a tad bit obvious that people aren’t waiting until death do them part to spread their legs. In fact, another study this past fall, this one done locally through the University of Pennsylvania, found that out of the almost 1,110 people they interviewed, 82% favored comprehensive sexuality information. Even among conservatives, 70% agreed.
Right now the federal government will give federal funding to schools who teach that abstinence is the only form of safer sex contraception, and have allotted over $170 million each year to states that agree with their “it’s better to say no, than know” campaign. But what’s so ridiculous is that comprehensive sexuality education also states that abstinence is the most effective form of birth control, but also teaches people about choice, something I think this country was founded on. So instead of them not knowing anything about condoms, and therefore not using them when the getting the urge, comprehensive sexuality education allows them to understand abstinence while being smart enough to know that most people won’t remain chaste until their wedding night.
The best part is that nobody can say that abstinence only education works, or has helped keep virgins, virgins at least until the vow, but hey, if you don’t admit it, then it can’t be true, right?
So, the real question here is, when will our government wake up to the fact that sex does not wait for marriage? I hope it’s before stop thinking we can’t make a difference. Because the sex part won’t change, but the make a difference part – that still can.
Posted by jamye at January 2, 2022 11:50 AM