This document discusses premarital sex in the Philippines. It notes that while premarital sex was once rare, statistics show 30% of Filipinos now engage in it, though this is still lower than some Western countries. Factors that have contributed to its increased prevalence include more liberal social attitudes, especially among women; viewing sex as pleasurable rather than solely for reproduction; and greater exposure to sexuality in media. However, premarital sex also brings risks like unwanted pregnancy and disease.

1. PREMARITAL SEX
A Reaction Paper
Submitted to:
Mr. RYAN OMAR VALLEGA REYES
Submitted by:
ALEMAR A. ALLECER
BSMT – 2A
January 25, 2013

2. Premarital sex is sexual intercourse engaged in bypersons who
areUnmarried .
It is generally used in reference to individuals 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 marriage.
. Accordingly, it was designed for married couples to enjoy, hence the
Famous quote: “true love waits until marriage.” The norms of philippinesociety
say that it isNot normal or it is immoral to engage in premarital sex, but despite
this, people just cannotWait until they get wedded. This accounts for the
prevalence of premarital sex in the country.At present, one can say that it’s
normal to know people who had sex already. But What’s alarming is the rapid
growth of the number of people who had sex before marriage.Different
researches show the rise of this number. In the last century, only a few, if not
zero,Gave themselves to premarital sex.
This information if compared to present data would giveAn overwhelming difference.
Statistics in 2008 showed that premarital sex was prevalent in30% of the filipinos. This
figured is actually small when compared to western countries. In The usa, 75% of the
women would say that they already experienced premarital sex whenThey reached the
age of nineteen. However, it would not seem right to compare a lessDeveloped country
like the philippines to far way more urbanized and liberal countries in theWest. The
figure 30% is, in fact, a very high number, taking to account the nature of

3. filipinos.nevertheless, these data only show that attitudes towards sex have changed
dramatically over The past years (villaverde, 2010).
Practicing premarital sex is more often attributed to men. It is for the
reason thatMales are more aggressive than females. However, as mentioned
earlier, things have changed.If things were taken back to the first place, it is
necessary to know why people have sex at all.
The answer is as simple as reproduction. However, later in time sex was viewed in
another Way. It is said that premarital sex is only just for pleasure. Moreover, sex is said
to be fun.Obviously, sex before marriage is indeed used for pleasure. This perception
has contributedTo hasty boost in the incidence of premarital sex in the philippines. Most
probably, this pleasure is the reason for the people’s positive regards to premarital sex.
As a matter of fact,Women are now competing with men in terms of sexual experience.
This is brought about byWomen’s newly developed permissive attitude towards sex
(villaverde, 2001).
Different people might have various reasons in committing premarital sex aside
from positive view on sex. Some people might just be financially incapable of being
married, thus,They engage in premarital intercourse. Some could just be doing it to
build up an image inFront of their peers. The worse part here is that people who commit
the said act are not onlyExposing themselves to some risks but they are staining the
traditional filipino image of being conservative (baumer and south, 2001). This is not to
say that premarital sex is totallyWrong that it should be eliminated but it’s just that this

4. action possesses potential risks whichMight affect not only the individuals involved in it
but the society, where they belong, asWell.
Things always change, especially now that it is the modern era (frias,
2001). AlongWith this, the norms also change. However, it’s just sad to note that
things have just goneWorse. The idea that sex is just for fun is actually a very
cheap reason to engage in premaritalIntercourse. Nobody knows if these people
who do it even weigh the pleasure they get from itAgainst the different
consequences which they might encounter. An even more disturbing factIs that
the age range of people who do it is getting younger and younger. Recent
researches,which show a large figure of the number of people having premarital
intercourse, wereConducted on young adults whose ages are from fifteen to
twenty-five. In fact, according toThe 2002 young adult fertility and sexuality study
by the university of the Philippines Population institute (uppi) and the
demographic research development foundation,Twenty-six percent of the filipino
youth nationwide from ages fifteen to twenty-fiveConfessed to have had
premarital sex experience (singson, 2008).
This is a very shockingEvent. This should be able to call the attention of
the authorities to make proper actions.However, things are still in the hands of
the people. From childhood, filipinos were alwaysTaught that premarital sex is
wrong, yet many still engage in it. Moreover, individuals or theYouth themselves
who practice this kind of deed say that they were only being more open toThings
which their parents did in secret (atkinson and hilgard, 1985).

5. They are more exposedTo such things.As a direct result the number of teenage
pregnancy also rose to a jaw-dropping figure.The 1998 national demographic and
health survey (ndhs) revealed that 3.6 million of Female teenagers, which comprised
5.2 % of the philippine population of that time, gotpregnant. Furthermore, in 92 % of
these teens, the pregnancy was unwanted and unplanned(singson, 2008). These
figures are already very high for such an early period. Consequently,Abortion is usually
to follow. Also noted in the said survey was a staggering abortion rateWhich was
recorded to be 25 per 1000 women. This amount did not even cover all abortionsFor
there are cases when such incidents are not reported. Other than the increased
abortionRate is also the higher prevalence of aids and other sexually transmitted
diseases. Premarital Sex contributes to the worsening condition of the country.There
are certain factors which urge or influence the people’s view on sex. One is
theAdvancement in contraception. Actually, this advancement is not surprising at all for
it isbrought by modernization and advancements in medical technology. It has actually a
lot of
Advantages: it prevents pregnancy and reduces the risks for std.
However, has resulted toThe change in the people’s attitude toward sex
(villaverde, 2010). Because of this, there is aHigher chance of having an even
bigger number of occurrences of premarital sex in theCountry. Additionally, the
media always had a great influence on the people’s judgement of Things. Filipino
teens have higher exposure to sex from television, movies, magazines, andMost
importantly the internet. They learn these things, yet they don’t know how to
handleThings and they are left to their peer for opinions.Premarital sex is high in

6. the philippines. This is somehow embarrassing to think thatThephilippinesis said
to be a christian country. The dominant religions in the country areChristianity
and islam. Both put value on sex as part of a married life. Moreover, Filipinos Are
conservative in nature. They put value on morality. Despite this, there is still a
highprevalence of premarital sex in the country.
Premarital sex is alarming in the country. It has grown in such a fast rate
and it isSurprising that people involved in it are very young and possess little
knowledge of the risksThey may face. There are various reasons of why people
engage in premarital sex. Such Reasons may be as shallow as pleasure. One of
these reasons is media which is a great factor Which leads to high frequency of
the said act. Different people have varied views toward sexAnd other people
should be careful in their reactions. Therefore, one can only criticize
thephenomena of high prevalence of premarital sex but he/she can never judge a
person becauseOf his different perceptions about things.
REFERENCE
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