shocking, awful, wrong??? that is so incredibly sexist and judgmental!

sorry, pressed send too early. I AGREE that it is incredibly sexist and judgmental is what I meant to say! But yes, some people definitely still have that attitude!

well to each his own....but i cringe a little when girls AND boys have sex under 16. they're children

Yes the attitude still exists. It is wrong and that is why it is important to continue the fight for a change. It always bothered me when people laughed off the sexual conquests of my guy friends and judged girls as "slutty". I have my own personal beliefs about what age is too early but I wouldn't judge someone who made the choice before then. I made my later than most of my friends but that was what was right for me.

even 16 is too young oh dear.. i would say 18
i feel 50

I think sex is something ADULTS should be doing and not children. Every child has a right to a childhood, so every child should stop try to grow up too fast. By having sex at an early age, I believe you lose your innocence.

What's the rush? Enjoy being a child! I did and never regretted it. Not once.

Of course there's a double standard to this, and basically every other sexual behavior - guys get away with more, is this really news to anyone?

As for when is too soon, yeah it depends on the person but the extremes are easy to see, like nine year old pregnant girls and the forty year old virgins. For the most part I say myob.

Any 15 year old having sex is disgusting.

Sex is for adults, 15 year olds aren't adults. I would be incredibly disappointed if I had a child having sex...

I lost mine at 18 and I felt that even might have been too young. Kids are just not mature enough to deal with the reprecussions of sex: STDs, pregnancy, bad reputations not to mention heartbreak and guilt that come with having sex with the wrong person. It's just way too much for a kid, both male and female, to deal with maturely.

I lost my virginity when I was really young.
I was 13!!!

But I can honestly say it wasn't worth it but I wanted it at that time.
When you are young and dumb like I was no one can really convince you.
I think 15 is ok. But then I think that it is nobody's business when you loose it. If I had a daughter I would advice her and when she reaches a certain age like (like 15) I would put her on b*tch control just in case. That's better than getting knocked up.

that's just my opinion of course.

I meant birth control!

I lost mine at 17 got pregnant at 18.. I wish I would have done things different. Luckily I married the man I lost it to,so I have no regrets about that. but I would have waited till I was much older. and even then some people are not ready for it. that is why I still think you should wait till you get married to have sex.

15 is way young. The problem is that we do not realize this until we are adults. Before 18 or 19, people are just not emotionally mature enough to handle what comes with having sex.

as crazy as this sounds my best friend is very sexual she tell me all the time men have done it for so long why cant woman (sleeping around with different men), as long as you are careful whats the big deal, i dont agree with it but thought i might share that, btw she started having sex at 17 she is now 25

Anything below sixteen is WAY too young, but even sixteen is quite young... And like everyone above me said, children shouldn't be having sex!

LMAO @ "b*tch control"!!!

I agree with Fleurfairy to a certain extent. I think an individual is ready to have sex if they are ready to handle the possible consequences of STD, pregnancy, psychological effects, etc. And when I mean ready to handle, I mean take RESPONSIBILITY if the situation arises, not just tell Mom and Dad.

alot of people like letsgetloud are incredibly blessed when the unthinkable happens. it ends up being the right person for some but unfortunately for many others its not. i myself am still hunted by feelings for my first. i attribute this not to me thinking i was in love with him but the spiritual connection made. he was a guy i dated for 2 years before anything happened and still remain great friends who care about each other. dating doesn't work for us anymore. we both agree that we should have waited until we were not adults by age but adults mentally and financially. many young people have families like mine that would never financially support me if something happened and i was not married. i would definately do it different. i just wish there was a way to convey that young girls and have them understand. i didn't realize the mistake i had made until 3 years later.

This is a difficult question, because people are different and there isn't a set age for losing one's virginity where it is acceptable. Yes, there is still a double standard to between men and women being sexually active. My mother, for example, freaked out when she found out I had sex for the first time and recently her boyfriend found out his 16 year old was having sex, he's a boy, and she told him to be understanding and tell him to be safe- that's a far cry from what she screamed at me. She called me a slut, yeah, I was 15 but I also did it once with my boyfriend- who I later married, and didn't have sex again for a couple years because I decided I wasn't completely ready.
It sucks that kids have sex so young, I don't regret it but I was also more mature than most kids my age. We, as adults, have the responsibility to teach children and make them informed so they can make the best decision for themselves, not just what we decided for them.

As with many "milestones" (for lack of a more appropriate term), I believe that "too early" has everything to do with the maturity of BOTH people involved, and their reasons for doing it.
I lost mine when I was 16. I'm 19 now, have still only had one partner (am still with him), and have no regrets at all. I believe I was ready then, we'd discussed with each other the potential consequences and how we would handle them, and used two forms of birth control. And, mostly, I did it because I truly wanted to, we genuinely cared for each other (still do, of course ), and it was right for us.

However, if another 16-year-old girl lost it to some random guy because he was coercing her into it, or because everyone ELSE was doing it, if she didn't know a thing about sex and everything that comes with it... then I'd say she was too young.

cmill, I dated him for 2 years before doing anything also I was raised in a christian home. and trust me when I got pregnant it was hell. I actually dont believe in pre marital sex but once it is done you can't do anything about it .

some months ago their was a poster who wrote in a blog who said she wanted to die cuz she didn't have sex yet. I think she was only 14 or 15 so sad.

any age below 20 is wrong in my eyes. I waited till i was 22 and i was so much better for it, watched all the girls around me crumble and fall and lose themselves.

letsgetloud she needs a mom and a therapist no child at 14 or 15 should want to die because they have not had sex yet, i wish i had not had sex at the age i did i got pregnant when i lost my virginity with a condom on i dont regret my daughter just wish i had waited

I think if you love someone, you should go for it. But emotional maturity is important too. Sometimes its better to wait.

how old were you pink? see not even condoms are a sure thing either. that is why I get kind of annoyed when people are like You have to use condoms. I mean hell ya they are gone work against not using anything at all but some people act as if nothing can ever happen if you use protection.

i came and am from a very relegious catholic family, so birth control was out of the picture, see my mom was very strict so the first chance i had to be free i had sex, he was my boyfriend for two years, as far as condoms well that was the only birth control i knew at the time, so now i take my experience and use it in a positive way for my daughter hoping i dont make the same mistake with my daughter

Personally, I think there is no right or wrong age. People lose it when they lose it. But if I had to decide, I would say 13. You're just not really emotionally mature at that age -- you really don't know what you're doing.

I'm still trying to get over the title of this post: "What Age (If Any) Is Too Early to Lose Your Virginity?"

... What age (if any)?!! Hmmm.... I guess 7 is too early an age??

I'm kidding, of course, but obviously there is a "too early" of age. The exact number? It's kind of like something one can only say in retrospect.

I don't think that there's a particular age that is too old or too young. It's not like someone matures greatly between 16 and 17, or 18 and 19...

It's a matter of maturity more than age.

This isn't new, it's been this way for a long time. It's viewed if a girl has sex at an early age she's pressured into it or sexually in control or something like that.

I had sex at an early age, and he was the right guy and I'm fine with it.

We're children for such a short amount of time - I sometimes think it's sad how quickly people want to be "grown up" and do grown up things.

I think 15 is too young whether it's a girl or boy. There's lots of time later.

This is really interesting to read all the comments. I'm turning 20 soon and have yet to have sex... Sometimes I guess I feel weird since all of my friends lost their virginity at 16-17. But I'm just waiting for the right person to come along.

it depends on the person

I'm 20, I'll be 21 by Christmas and I still believe it's too early for me, I just don't think I'm quite ready yet, and that's fine.

But, I have girfriends lose it at 14, I even know of people who did it at 12! And they came out just fine. I think it all comes down to being wise/responsible enough to take care of yourself (mentally and physically) and do it because you really feel you want it and are happy and comfortable doing it, not doing it just because you think that way you're gonna trap the guy or keep him interested, or to be cool, etc.

as long as you respect yourself and your own times, then I don't see what could be the issue doing it at 13 or at 29.

Well I'm with divinedebris. Sexuality and maturity are individual things and the idea that there is one set time that everyone can deal with sex is absurd! So is the idea that we magically mature at some specific age, I know 30 year olds who are still mixed up and confused in their sexual relationships.

I also find it unbelievable that this double standard still exists and that the same ppl who KNOW that boys generally mature later than girls think its ok for boys to have sex earlier. Seriously WTF?? It just reinforces the (incorrect) stereotype that sex is meaningless for boys etc and that girls have to be sheltered and protected because we're weak and emotional. (PS I hate that weak and emotional are still often seen as synonomous)

Well that's my Friday rant, sorry everyone

If you are emotionally, mentally, and physically able to handle the negative consequences of having sex, you are ready. And, since most teens aren't able to do that, I vote both teenage boys and girls are not ready.

I think you have to be old enough to accept the responsibility, and I feel that you cannot be prepared finacially to do that without at least a high school diploma, so I say wait until college.

Wow, that woman is so beautiful, she can make Angelina Jolie look like an ordinary bar girl.

Ok, on topic. I feel this is an unfair double standard that lives on in our society, but sometimes I catch myself thinking the same way.

I don't really agree with her, I think its really immature if anyone has sex under the age of 16 whether it be a boy or a girl. Personally, I don't people should lose their virginities until they are 18 years old or in college, but 16 years old at the very youngest. I'm 19 years old and still a virgin, as are most of my friends. Three of my good friends who HAVE had sex waited until they were 18 or 19 years old, and they have only had one sexual partner. Thinking back on high school, I think I would have been way too young to have sex even if I wanted to, its better to wait in my opinion.

My younger brother is 15 years old and let me tell you, you are not close to be emotionally ready for sex at that age. The thought of him and his friends having the chance to have sex makes me cringe.

I lost my virginity at 18 years old but emotionally stable enough at 17, I just waited a little bit until I found the 'right' guy. I think that as long as you are emotionally ok with it then it's ok. Kids need to learn to have some patience.

i feel like to each their own but i think if you are having sex before 16 or 17 you are rushing into things. you dont know anything about your body or relationships and you are probably just doing it bc you think it will make you cool or the boy will like you better

i lost mine at 17 and 1/2 and kinda wish i had lost it after i had turned 18... just bc the person i had lost it to i didn't feel was special enough (hindsight is 20/20) but... i think that my age was just good enough cause i was a high school graduate and i had done everything else

i think 16 17 is early

I lost my virginity at 17, with no regrets. My mum wanted me to wait until at least 19, but when I told her, she had no problem because she truly believes that Beau will be her son in law [she's right, we're engaged].

I figure anytime before 17 is a bit much, but if someone at that age decides to have sex, I pray that they're safe. My ex lost his when he turned 16, and although I didn't like the girls he was with, he was safe about it and I was proud of him for protecting himself. Another friend of mine is 15, and is with a 20 something year old...and all they do is smoke weed. Yeah, not so proud of that.