Editing Virginity (section)

=== Social norms and legal implications ===
{{Main|Sexual morality|Norm (sociology)}}
Human sexual activity, like many other kinds of activity engaged in by humans, is generally influenced by social rules that are culturally specific and vary widely. These social rules are referred to as sexual morality (what can and can not be done by society's rules) and sexual norms (what is and is not expected). There are a number of groups within societies promoting their views of sexual morality in a variety of ways, including through sex education, religious teachings, seeking commitments or virginity pledges, and other means.

Most countries have laws which set a [[Marriageable age|minimum marriage age]], with the most common age being 18 years, reduced to 16 in "special circumstances", typically when the female partner is pregnant, but the actual [[age at first marriage]] can be considerably higher. Laws also prescribe the minimum age at which a person is permitted to engage in sex, commonly called the [[age of consent]]. Social (and legal) attitudes toward the appropriate age of consent have drifted upwards in modern times. For example, while ages from 10 to 13 were typically acceptable in [[western world|Western countries]] during the mid-19th century,<ref name="waites">{{cite book|last=Waites|first=Matthew|title=The Age of Consent: Young People, Sexuality and Citizenship|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2005|isbn=978-1-4039-2173-4|oclc=238887395}}</ref> the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century were marked by changing attitudes resulting in raising the ages of consent to ages generally ranging from 16 to&nbsp;18.<ref name="Stephen Robertson, University of Sydney, Australia">{{cite web|last=Robertson|first=Stephen|url=http://chnm.gmu.edu/cyh/teaching-modules/230|title=Children and Youth in History &#124; Age of Consent Laws|website=Chnm.gmu.edu|publisher=University of Sydney, Australia|access-date=2010-06-30|df=mdy-all|archive-date=2020-09-27|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200927182216/http://chnm.gmu.edu/cyh/teaching-modules/230|url-status=live}}</ref> Today, the age of consent varies from 12 years (or onset of puberty) to 21, but 16 is the most common age of consent, though some jurisdictions also having a "close-in-age" exception, allowing two adolescents (as young as 12 years of age) to have sex with each other provided their ages are not more than a specified number of years apart (typical no more than a 2 to 3 years age difference, depending on the jurisdiction). <!--For the average age at which adolescents have their first sexual experience, see "Prevalence of virginity" above. -->Some countries outlaw any sex outside marriage entirely.

Historically, and still in many countries and jurisdictions today, a female's sexual experience is sometimes considered a relevant factor in the prosecution of a perpetrator of rape.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} Also, historically, a man who "took" a female's virginity could be forced to marry her. In addition, children born as a result of premarital sex were subject to various legal and social disabilities such as being considered [[Legitimacy (family law)|illegitimate]] and thus barred from [[inheritance|inheriting]] from the [[putative father]]'s [[estate (law)|estate]], from bearing the father's surname or title, and support from the putative father. Many of these legal disabilities on children born from extramarital relationships have been abolished by law in most Western countries, though social ostracism may still apply.