Today, 56 percent of eighteen-year-old American women have had intercourse at least once. Facts portray teen pregnancy rates in the United States as being the highest of any industrialized country. Forty percent of young women become pregnant at least one time. (http://hoah.cuny.edu/sexuality/siecus/fact2.html) On the other hand, 12 percent of eighteen-year-old Ecuadorian young women have had sex at least once and 15 percent have had a child by age 18. (http://www.agi-usa.org/pubs/journals/2602100.html) Isn't the difference in sexual activity between girls in Ecuador and the US amazing? It is clear that virginity is influenced by many factors including beliefs, religion and customs as well as the role of teens in supporting their families. An outsider's view: In Ecuador where I am from, if a girl lost her virginity at an early age it would cause a scandal. Ecuadorians are very conservative and close-minded people when it comes to sex. Appearances play a big role in my community. People try to seem healthy and wealthy although they aren't. Adults tend to criticize teen couples even if they are just kissing and our culture believes in sex only after marriage. Similarly, boys only search for girls who tend to be "difficult". This means that if a girl is not a virgin, a guy would never want a long term relationship with her.

As opposed to Ecuadorian teens, Americans tend to have sex at an earlier age and they face pressures regarding sex that Ecuadorian teens do not. Statistics show that teen sex rates in the United States are nearly twice as high as in Great Britain and ten times as high as in Japan. Media portrays American teenagers as "easy girls" that use sex as a source to become popular in their schools. Movies like American Pie, show teenagers as people with an urge to loose their virginity in high school. All this sexual activity can lead to pregnancies and STD's at an early age. It is very common to see a pregnant teen in the United States. Nowadays, Americans don't get surprised when they spot a teen mother. What would people say if a girl got pregnant in Ecuador? Through the 17 years that I have lived in Ecuador, I've only heard of one case of a girl getting pregnant. She had sex with her boyfriend about ten months ago, got pregnant, and just gave birth to her baby three weeks ago. My friends and me feel really sorry for her, especially because she has grown-up responsibilities at an early age. She can't go out to parties, hang out with her friends, or go to school anymore. Are all of these facts REAL? The facts presented above on Ecuadorian teens tell only part of the real story. Ecuadorian's statistics may seem real, but they aren't. What I mentioned before about the Ecuadorian's virginity view only embraces high and middle class communities. Statistics only show the rates of rich populations. Usually, poor teens don't report pregnancies or sexual activity. Virginity is highly valued in Latin societies, but this generalization is often broken when we look at poor populations. Farm communities tend to think that the more children you have, the better. This happens because children are forced to help with the farm work so that the family income will be larger. This is why many teenagers are pushed to get married and have children at an early age. Also, in other communities, poor teens are influenced by their parents to work as prostitutes. Because of poverty and realities teenagers face in rural areas where they need to work to support their families, Ecuador's reality is very tough; but it is real. There are no shelters or welfare for teens; they don't have anywhere to go for help. These differences of realities and cultures in Ecuador are not usually listed in the reports because of the absence of research. But while there needs to be more research on teens and sex in Ecuador, it is clear to me that virginity is more highly prized in Ecuador and that having sex outside of marriage is seen as bad. The Catholic Church is also a strong influence on values in the country and media is not such a strong force there. While the information, especially on lower income teens in Ecuador needs further research, facts in the US are better researched and more real. American Teens DO have sex at a very early age, but this doesn't mean that they always do it just to be popular. The media and boys say that teens have sex because they don't want to be teased for being a virgin or because they want to be popular. On the other hand, 61% of girls say that teens have sex because of pressure from a boyfriend. Having sex under pressure can signify that girls are just trying to please their partner or are in a one sided relationship where they are pressured to do things they don't really want to. Eight out of ten teens report regretting having sex for the first time, which is sad. Maybe they regret having lost their virginity and not saving it for something more special. Staying a virgin can be difficult to many teenagers, but I think that keeping your virginity until you reach a mature age and know enough about yourself, birth control and possible STD's is the best thing to do. Also, waiting for the time where you can make a good decision of choosing the right man, is very valuable and self-satisfying. My hope is that young women in the US and other countries like Ecuador will be able to have control over their virginity and decide, without pressure from others, when they are ready to have sex. Researched and Written by Karla Gallardo

 

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