A norm is an expectation regarding behavior. Any violation of that norm creates actions that are deviant, which then can cause the label deviant to be applied to those who have violated the norm. Throughout history these norms, and thus deviant behaviors, have been adjusted to fit with the always modernizing society. What once was considered a deviant behavior, such as being a bachelorette until 30, is now considered a norm; and what once was a norm, such as being married at 14, is now considered deviant. All types of deviance are subject to this shift, most notably sexual deviance in the recent years. The shifting perception of premarital sex in America as a sexually deviant behavior to a social norm is the result of normalization through
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Before 1848, certain laws targeted the male as the sole instigator of premarital sex. But later in 1848 in New York the American Female Moral Reform Society was successful in passing laws that would punish “the destroyer of innocence by making it a crime for any person “under the promise of marriage” to seduce and have sexual intercourse with a female”(Ehrlich 2014:29) who had until that point pure character. At this point, premarital sex had transitioned from a more violation to a law violation that would be punished in the legal system. In the 19th century, the majority of action focusing on premarital sex was the result of purity reformers pushing the government to have a greater role in protecting “young women from sexual coercion and to prevent them from giving away their greatest treasure”(Ehrlich 2014:59). This belief was cemented in the opinion that female value was rooted in her virtue and thus premarital sex would result in the ruination of her and her family’s social status. Up until the 20th century, the notion that females were always the victims of premarital intercourse was dominant, but at the turn of the century Progressive-era reformers brought to popular urban youth opinion that the woman was as much involved in premarital sex as the man. This soon led to what Ehrlich calls the “female sexual delinquent”(Ehrlich 2014:62) to replace the victim identity, and …show more content…
Through the rising average ages of marriage, diminishing importance of religious doctrine, and normalization through peer pressure, premarital coitus has become an accepted norm. American culture defines any carnal act that violates a norm as sexual deviance, yet since norms are continuously fluctuating, the behaviors that were labeled as sexually deviant have changed in tandem with society. American culture has modernized dramatically in terms of respecting personal sexual choices, so it stands to reason that accepted social norms and the resulting identified sexually deviant behaviors are modernizing as
Before 1848, certain laws targeted the male as the sole instigator of premarital sex. But later in 1848 in New York the American Female Moral Reform Society was successful in passing laws that would punish “the destroyer of innocence by making it a crime for any person “under the promise of marriage” to seduce and have sexual intercourse with a female”(Ehrlich 2014:29) who had until that point pure character. At this point, premarital sex had transitioned from a more violation to a law violation that would be punished in the legal system. In the 19th century, the majority of action focusing on premarital sex was the result of purity reformers pushing the government to have a greater role in protecting “young women from sexual coercion and to prevent them from giving away their greatest treasure”(Ehrlich 2014:59). This belief was cemented in the opinion that female value was rooted in her virtue and thus premarital sex would result in the ruination of her and her family’s social status. Up until the 20th century, the notion that females were always the victims of premarital intercourse was dominant, but at the turn of the century Progressive-era reformers brought to popular urban youth opinion that the woman was as much involved in premarital sex as the man. This soon led to what Ehrlich calls the “female sexual delinquent”(Ehrlich 2014:62) to replace the victim identity, and …show more content…
Through the rising average ages of marriage, diminishing importance of religious doctrine, and normalization through peer pressure, premarital coitus has become an accepted norm. American culture defines any carnal act that violates a norm as sexual deviance, yet since norms are continuously fluctuating, the behaviors that were labeled as sexually deviant have changed in tandem with society. American culture has modernized dramatically in terms of respecting personal sexual choices, so it stands to reason that accepted social norms and the resulting identified sexually deviant behaviors are modernizing as