# Another myth shattered, this time about premarital sex **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 28, 2008, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928 "2008-10-28T12:50:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/1 "2008-10-28T12:50:57Z")
> [@](#): > > PREMARITAL SEX IS NEARLY UNIVERSAL AMONG AMERICANS, AND HAS BEEN FOR DECADES > > The vast majority of Americans have sex before marriage, including those who abstained from sex during their teenage years, according to “Trends in Premarital Sex in the United States, 1954–2003,” by Lawrence B. Finer, published in the January/February 2007 issue of Public Health Reports. Further, contrary to the public perception that premarital sex is much more common now than in the past, the study shows that even among women who were born in the 1940s, nearly nine in 10 had sex before marriage. From [here](http://www.guttmacher.org/media/nr/2006/12/19/index.html). 9 in 10! Mom, how COULD you? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/2 "2008-10-28T13:45:51Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > 9 in 10! Mom, how COULD you? 😃 Quite nicely I’d suppose. So that leaves almost everyone except MY mom. Whew. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/3 "2008-10-28T13:56:36Z")
no one wants to believe they were conceived under the words “Bark like a dog, Bitch!” ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/4 "2008-10-28T14:01:36Z")
Not my mom, she was a good Catholic girl. Even after she got married she only had sex five times and I am not going to listen to anyone say otherwise! _puts hands over ears_ La la la la la I’m not listening! ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/5 "2008-10-28T14:07:50Z")
My older sister was born five months after my parents’ anniversary. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/6 "2008-10-28T14:16:25Z")
Considering I was 14 when my parents got married, and both my siblings were already born then, I know for a fact that my parents did have premarital sex. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/7 "2008-10-28T14:19:56Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > 9 in 10! Mom, how COULD you? 😃 My guess would be with 2 dudes. ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/8 "2008-10-28T14:24:58Z")
Seeing as how I was born while my parents were engaged, I’m going to _not_ be surprised to find out my mom had sex before she got married. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/9 "2008-10-28T14:29:48Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > no one wants to believe they were conceived under the words “Bark like a dog, Bitch!” “Mom, where do babies come from?” “Well sweetheart, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much, mommy says the ‘safe word’ and daddy loosens the ball gag before putting his sperm in mommy and then peeing on her…” ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/10 "2008-10-28T15:07:44Z")
I have never understood the obsession with imagining that ones parents are paragons of virtue and restraint. Hell, nothing makes me happier than when my mom-in law was joking with my grandmother-in-law about Viagra and she got a snappy “Your father does not NEED Viagra, thank you very much.” (spoiler: a few years later he did, but he’s 85 so he’s allowed). I find I can freak out my friends with this sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/11 "2008-10-28T15:39:44Z")
My parents got married when I was two. I have no trouble believing this one. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/12 "2008-10-28T15:53:22Z")
My Mom has told me that she almost flunked out of college because she and Dad were gettin’ busy. To what _extent_, I do not want to know… :eek: It’s human nature. Educating ones children so they can make choices that THEY are comfortable with seems to be the key method, IMHO. YMMV. GMSMD. ( God May Strike Me Dead ). 😃 Cartooniverse, publicly admitting here that he had pre-marital sex but that it did not involve a ball gag. ---
**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/13 "2008-10-28T15:54:13Z")
> [@cowgirl](#): > > My older sister was born five months after my parents’ anniversary. As was I (after my parents’ anniversary, not yours). ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/14 "2008-10-28T16:00:44Z")
> [@cowgirl](#): > > My older sister was born five months after my parents’ anniversary. I’m not understanding the significance of this… you mean after their wedding day, or their (first, second..) anniversary? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/15 "2008-10-28T16:02:41Z")
Well, I know mine didn’t, but they weren’t Americans at the time, and didn’t even meet until their wedding day. To be truthful, I don’t even know if they did after - I was adopted. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/16 "2008-10-28T16:04:47Z")
Pretty sure my ‘rents weren’t doin’ it before they married, because I’ve been told how miserable your wedding night will be if both partners are virgins… 😉 (Yeah, I did it. Sue me. 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/17 "2008-10-28T16:34:08Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > I have never understood the obsession with imagining that ones parents are paragons of virtue and restraint. … Because it requires significantly less Brain Bleach than imaging the alternative option of your parents humping like bunnies. :eek: Gah! Where’s the Brain Bleach? ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/18 "2008-10-28T16:46:38Z")
From what my mom says, she wanted to have premarital sex but my dad didn’t. Furthermore, when she emerged from the bathroom in her peignoir on their wedding night, my dad commented “what the hell is that?” and continued watching a really extended baseball game on TV. I’m sure that’s not at all related to his lifelong love of home decor magazines and more recent obsession with Ikea. I’m lucky to have been born. ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/19 "2008-10-28T17:34:25Z")
> [@cowgirl](#): > > My older sister was born five months after my parents’ anniversary. I was born five months to the day after my parents’ wedding. Either I was a 9lb. 6oz. preemie or they were being naughty! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928/20 "2008-10-28T18:03:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Further, contrary to the public perception that premarital sex is much more common now than in the past, the study shows that even among women who were born in the 1940s, nearly nine in 10 had sex before marriage. Yup; my mother told me that when she was in college way back when, about half of her fellow females dropped out due to unplanned pregnancies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-myth-shattered-this-time-about-premarital-sex/469928.md?page=2)