Premarital sex is something most parents do not agree on, especially when they have a daughter. It is almost certain that parents would do just about anything for their daughter not to have sex before marriage. This was a major problem in the working class families in the early twentieth century. During this period young girls attitudes changed towards sex. Parents had no choice but to take action in order to control their rebellious daughters.
During the nineteenth and early twentieth century America went through many economic developments and experienced a tremendous population growth. Families who had control over their daughters and control over their social interactions and relations with men, slowly started loosing their power. .
Working-class fathers could no longer support a family on their own. Therefore women were aloud to start working. Daughters started working and started experiencing freedom. Some daughters took advantage of their new economic power. They started staying out late, going to dance halls, and with the money they earned from working they bought themselves stylish clothes and makeup. In some cases they would move away from home. Parents were no longer able to watch every step their daughter made. In response to all these changes families came up with various different ways to keep their daughters away from sex.
Mexican and Italian families made sure that their daughters would leave the house with a member of the family. In some cases the older brother would be her escort, which made it hard for her to meet with any male. When it came to working, parents made sure that they would work with other family members. Even though they had such intense supervision, some of the young women still managed to form an intimate relationship with a young man.
When familiar methods no longer worked in modern urban environments, some working-class families started turning to the courts for assistance.