Anyone who is single has preferences when seeking a romantic partner, and they are entitled to them.
While some of the qualities they look for can be specific, it isn't too much to ask for these individuals to find someone with whom they can share passions both in and out of the bedroom.
But there are also hard limits, specifically for heterosexual men, when it comes to finding their happily ever after.
Curious to hear from anonymous bachelors online, Redditor Ghostgirl334 asked:
"Men of reddit, would you date a woman who refuses to have sex until marriage, why or why not?"
It turns out everyone has a strong need for release regardless of gender.
The Girl Who Couldn't Wait
"I did that once. She ended up having sex with some other dude lol."
– De4thMonkey
The Convert
"My soon-to-be-ex-wife was initially a 'wait until marriage' woman. I supported that. Until a length of time and she revealed how sexually frustrated she was because I wouldn’t make any moves on her. So once I discovered that, we had a talk and she told me how she didn’t want that anymore. So we started boning semi-regularly and didn’t wait until marriage."
– MatthewM69420
Growing Curiosity
"My now wife was a wait until marriage person. She would sleep in my apartment in college sometimes, I would sleep on the couch. Then she asked if I could sleep in the bed and snuggle. A few nights of that, and she asked if she could see my penis. Then there was touching, then... we were off to the races."
– uncultured_swine2099
Guys talked about women's subconscious prioritizing of sex before marriage.
A Cultural Thing
"Lol similarly I dated a woman who said that she wanted to wait for 'at least a year' to have sex. She then got upset that I wasn't pressuring her into sex. According to her, there was an understanding in her culture that girls will say they don't want sex but the guy should push for it anyway. But as a 19-year old American college student I wasn't about to take any chances with that..."
– PlacatedPlatypus
It's About Fast-Tracking Marriage
"I dated someone that was waiting until marriage, but wasn't against other forms, so it wasn't really that big of an issue. We broke up for other reasons than that, and she got engaged and married about 6 months after to the next guy she dated. If anything, I have found it makes people push marriage faster that are saving themselves for marriage."
– SometimesITalk16
Bad Reasoning
"I know very little about marriage, but I suspect 'let's get married so I can finally experience sex' is a bad reason to get married."
– JADW27
What about religion's role in all of this?
What BYU Students Did
"My brother went to BYU (Brigham Young University), and he had several friends that would drive to Vegas, get married, spend all weekend sex, and then immediately file for an annulment. What some people do to go around some rules for sex in the name of religion, man."
– mothershipq
The One Exception Against Forgiveness
"To rationalize that god is almighty and all knowing also all forgiving but not of sex out of wedlock, but he can be stumped by a 5$ Elvis impersonator and a rickety annulment. It’s preposterous."
– Ikonixed
A Former Mormon Confesses
"Coming from a mormon state, I saw SO much of this. Some seem to be just making the best of their situation, others are doing great, but a very large chunk of them are on the <5 year timeclock towards divorce. It's such a shame that they suggest having kids to revive that passion in the marriage when it fades."
– PromiscuousSalad
What Baptist School Has Taught Me
"Yup I went to a southern baptist school briefly and every single person I met there got married almost immediately after high school, or definitely before they finished college. Saw lots of people pump out 3+ kids and then get a divorce long before they even hit 30. And of course these experiences just reinforced the toxic gender-based ideology they already believed."
– anotsobrightbulb
Observing The Data
"It 100% makes people push marriage faster. I went to a Christian high school. The first like 20-25 people married? All known for being hardcore Christians in school. It’s not even remotely subtle."
– Riperonis
Based on many of the comments, many Redditors agreed that pushing marriage in order to prevent a divine violation demonstrates the system is flawed–especially after many of these precious unions dissolve after having kids.
And conservative Christians argue LGBTQ+ people legally tying the knot is a desecration to preserving the so-called "sanctity of marriage."
Hmm, fine examples these adherents are setting.
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
@arianagrande/Instagram
@arianagrande/Instagram