Mediation Paper

The question I am going to mediate is: how does women's economic independence affect their freedom to engage in premarital sex and what sort of impact does it have on marriage?

Women have been gaining far more opportunities for economic independence, and in today's society, some have reached level comparable to those of men. The changing role of women has greatly affected the institution of marriage and all that it stands for. Women havent always had the freedom to choose their own husbands, as they do today. Family members played a huge role in setting up marriages in order to ensure a woman's status in society. Marriage was about finding a husband that could provide his wife with a stable life, someone with access to the all the resources necessary to ensure she will live a comfortable life. Because women today have immensly more opportunities to prosper in the workplace, they no longer need to look to men to take care of them. Women are getting married at later ages because they can afford to support themselves for longer without the aid of a husband. Women used to focus on making themselves suitable for men, and this often included the avoidance of premarital sex. Today's women dont need to scramble around looking for husbands after they leave their family, so it's less important to them how they are perceived by men. Women feel secure in enough areas of their lives so that if a man doesnt approve of her choice to engage in sexual relations, it doesnt have much of an effect on her.

In my paper, I will show both the positive and negative effects that women's economic independence has had on the issue of premarital sex and marriage.