View all slides | Contents of this slide

Lecture Notes

Sociologist Ira Reiss describes four moral standards of nonmarital sexuality among college students:

The abstinence standard was the official sexual ideology in American culture until the early 1960s. According to this belief, it is wrong for either men or women to engage in sexual intercourse before marriage regardless of the circumstances or their feelings for each other.

 

The double standard which is widely practiced but rarely approved publicly. This permits men to engage in nonmarital intercourse, but women are considered immoral if they do so.

 

Permissiveness with emotional affection describes sex is okay when between men and women who have a stable, loving relationship.

 

Permissiveness without affection, is the type of sexual expression that usually occurs in "hooking up" on college campuses. It holds that people may have sexual relationships with each other even if there is no affection or commitment.

 

You can see that many of these standards contradict themselves. However, the standards are more than 40 years old but most, to a degree, still stand true. For example, although the acceptance of sex outside of marriage is widespread among college students, there are still more boundaries placed on women. If a woman has sexual intercourse, most people believe it should take place in the context of a committed relationship. Women who "sleep around" or have numerous casual sex relationships are often morally censured.

 

College campuses often have lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organizations that sponsor social events and get-togethers. There, individuals can freely meet others in open circumstances that permit meaningful relationships to develop and mature.