Pre-Marital Sex
Feb 27th, 2007, in News, by PatungBalinese youths and their attitudes to pre-marital sex.
A survey conducted by Udayana University in Bali and the local branch of the Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) has found that 28.6% of young Balinese girls and boys feel that pre-marital sex can be done, with 15.5% saying without any conditions, the dreaded free sex, while 13.1% feel that marriage should follow sometime afterwards.
The majority however, 64.5%, remain conservative, saying pre-marital sex is not permissible, while 6.9% say they have no idea.
1,168 young Balinese from nine regencies and towns were questioned and researcher Dr. I.G.W. Murjana admits surprise that the most liberal attitudes to sex were found not among the teenagers of Denpasar city, but those from provincial areas like Buleleng and Karangasem. Perhaps out of a desire to know the likely causes of this, or perhaps just as a plea for more funding, he said:
More research is needed.
95.5% of respondents were found to be aware of what sex actually was and about reproductive health issues, although for the latter many only had a sketchy idea. Many were found to be unaware of the proper age for getting married and about the negative effects of violating societal norms.
Balinese teenagers, said the Doctor, preferred to have information and advice about sex to come from their teachers, rather than their parents, not surprisingly, and so Murjana urged that sex education be adopted as part of the national school curriculum, and not only taught in the biology classes of the science stream (IPA) at senior high school as at present. Such education should begin at junior high school, he added. tempo
20th April 2007. Professor Charles Surjadi of a reproductive health research unit says a survey has found that 15% of 2,224 university students have had pre-marital sexual experiences, ranging from kissing, necking, petting, to intercourse. Between one and two percent of students surveyed had had abortions. tempo
21 Comments on “Pre-Marital Sex”
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Andrew says:
I see that “immoral western values” accusation coming.
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Ihaknt says:
If you need to test drive a car that probably only last a decade then why not test drive something that you make a commitment to for the rest of your life? Yes I have been influenced by the bad, bad West! It just occured to me though, some cars last longer than some marriages!
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Niamh Piperman says:
Ihaknt,
Perhaps they’re making the lifelong commitment because they took the car for a joy ride, had an accident and are now faced with the concequences, albeit, a responsible decision to not dump the car by the side of the road, and not to destroy it to hide the evidence, but to purchase it.
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Well just with anything when you are testing it you take all the necessary precautions no? Heheheheh. By the way NP, in many cases i’m just being sarcastic.
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Robert says:
Ihaknt,
If you need to test drive a car that probably only last a decade then why not test drive something that you make a commitment to for the rest of your life?
Ah, I see now those people who are flown into Bali are testdrivers! I hope they limit the damage.
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Ihaknt Says:
By the way NP, in many cases i’m just being sarcastic.
I kind of thought you were. Cheers,
NP
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1ndra says:
Well then how about having more than one car? 🙂
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Bas says:
Dr. I.G.W. Murjana shoudn’t been surprised. The western free sex myth is still strong and widely used as propaganda. But the reality is sexuality, prostitution, premarital sex, rapes and so on are much, much, much higher in Indonesia than in any western country. I already write about the percentage of my girl friends who have been raped and about the percentage of guys who are faithful to their wife (I am in Indonesia since 1994 and I only know 2).
Now just sit in any hotel lobby and watch arround. Short time booking is a benediction for hotel owners!
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Ah, I see now those people who are flown into Bali are testdrivers!
No Robert, they are tourists. You dont have to fly to Bali to pre-maritally test drive your spouse. Although I must say it is a nice romantic place.
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Bas, that also goes for Pedophaelia and incest. Man, the amount of times I hear of cases of uncles, older brothers etc, getting their way with younger family members in this country!! Yet, no one wants to admit there is such a problem. But watch the reaction to this Australian guy in Bali who is currently being tried for pedophaelia here.
1ndra Says:
February 27th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
Well then how about having more than one car?
Funny you should say that. The amount of times I or my wife, when walking together down a Bali or Semarang street, were offered ‘another one’ because ‘don’t just have one mister (or mBak, if to my wife), two is better’.
Seemed no matter how well-dressed my wife is, to most people here, she is either my prostitute, or now that we have a child, my pembantu.
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Just like a cult isnt it? 🙂
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Janma says:
As far as I can tell people in the villages of bali are having pre-marital sex because that is the way it’s done. They usually ‘pacaran’ until the girl gets pregnant and then they get married. They say it’s a way of being sure that the girl can conceive and produce the necessary offspring. Romantic hey!
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Oh the romance just keeps going, never stops!
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angel_fire says:
The whole area of sex and how to handle it can be a great struggle for today’s singles…. Women and men are getting married later and later, with the average age being somewhere around 25 years old. This means that the average person is going to be single for quite some time (we’re talking an average of 10 to 15 years, ouch!) as they go through school, work, and establish themselves in the world. Things are definitely different from old days when you were married almost as soon, if not before, you hit puberty……but then again….be responsible with your actions=)))……
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Bin Camel says:
Based on experience, 40% college girls in jakarta have lost their virginity.
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Mohammed Khafi says:
Bin Camel,
Is this your personal experience? 😉
Peace
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pj_bali says:
I’ll stick with the car analogy. Is it not better to learn to drive first before you you buy the car? That way you have some insight as to how to drive, what kind of car is most suitable for your needs, how best to look after it so it lasts a long time, etc… See a lot of people buying the sport version without consideration to high maintenance costs, driving the car outside the legal limits etc…
This is not to hold myself out out as a driving instructor (although its an entertaining thought).
met jalan
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Dragonwall says:
The one thing every American household needs to do is learn to drive. As to sex they tend to adopt a liberal view like test drive before commital and Asians are starting to get the trend. Finding a virgin………….not ezzzzzzzzzzzzz.
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John says:
West, schmest… I think if you compared like with like, sama cohorts, Sydney with Surabaya; Kuta with Kensington; Medan with Miami, you would find comparable trends in youth thinking. Academics can tease away, dissecting out the different elements, Richman/Poorman, Hindu/Muslim, etc etc. But I reckon its all been done before, in varying guises, ad nauseum. Google it and see. While its admirable in academic circles, to repeat and publish findings, to prove the (academic) point, can Bali afford the this academic indulgence. In the wise words of Farmer Yassity, with his slow hick drawl: “yah don’t need a weatherman ta tell yah which way thah winds blowin”.
What I did take from this is that Dr I.G.W. Murjana and Acadamae would like further funding. For my money, I would rather purchase a bore to provide clean drinking water in a remote village and thereby address enteric problems in children and adults and infant mortality.
I’m an old guy now (sheez, and some may say “cynical” 🙂 and all this navel gazing about sex, I find quaint (at the risk of sounding pompous). Much fuss about nothing. Condoms solve the nasty STD and population issues, all the rest is humbug.
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Ah, and I note paedophilia raised its ugly head here, courtesy N. Piperman. Not sure why. The thread started around youth (initiated) responses to pre-marital sex. So I would say, “Off Topic” (excuse the pun), Nyamh.
But now its in MIX, one presumes the offense is measured against laws and mores. Statutory rape in California is consensual sex where one party or both parties are under 18 years of age. And yes, both parties could be charged with rape against each other, and be LISTED as “sex offenders against minors”. Next door, in the State of Nevada, the age of consent is 16 years of age. Go figure, 10 km could make a huge diference in two people’s live. I guess if you’re talking paedaphilia, you need to define your terms. A friend from around Ubud was married at 14. Was her husband a paedaphile? At 26, she has 3 children surviving, out of 4. Her Hindu religion and values have been around for 10,000 years or more. Much longer than “thee or thyne”. I do not judge.
In practical terms, for me I did not take offense when three or four guys in broad daylight on a public street in Legian propositioned my 12 year old daughter. I did not want them lynched. My Balinese guide apologised and said they were from Jawa. Even that’s a tad ethnocentric. For me I remembered what it was like to be 20 years old. I realised these guys probabably thought my daughter was 20 years old. (so while they need not be lynched, they should expect an old-fashioned flogging from Apu for having such affront). And I bought her a fake wedding ring for her left hand, and for insurance, a second ring for her right hand, She made a point of flashing these and making the rings obvious. No more problems. So, when in Rome…___________________
Corrigendum
John Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
[snip] “¦While its admirable in academic circles, to repeat EXPERIMENTS ELSEWHERE, and TO publish THESE findings, SO AS to prove the (academic) point, can Bali afford the this academic indulgence”¦
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Now then, before we start with a profusion of theories about those “28.6% of young Balinese feel that pre-marital sex can be done” being influenced by those ‘Immoral Western values’ that those ‘immoral tourists bring with them’ let me just say that, I think it’s quite funny how in (Muslim) Java, a high percentage of Brides (mempelai) are at least a few weeks or months pregnant on the day of their wedding. 😉