Non-virgin brides face 'white dress fines'

[Amelia]

Ananova:

Non-virgin brides face 'white dress fines'

A Romanian priest says he wants women to pay a 'white dress fine' if they are not virgins when they marry.

Father Petrica Bratu, 37, from Valea Sarii says he hopes the fines will stop couples living in sin.

The fines will range between £10 and £60. The average salary in Romania is £100 per month.

Father Bratu said: "The fine depends on how intimate a couple have been before they get married."

Couples who had only just moved in together would pay £10 but brides who were pregnant or had children would pay £60.

The priest asked: "What is the use of the white bridal dress if the bride went from one man to the next, or if she comes into church holding the hand of her child?

"White is a symbol of purity. I want this to stay unchanged. I do not want young people to think that there is no such thing as sacred matrimony."

But groom Plamen Baldescu, 27, complained: "Weddings are so expensive already - this is just too much.

"The priest heard sometimes I was allowed to stay over at my girlfriend's parents' house and suddenly he is demanding large amounts of money as my fiancee supposedly does not deserve to wear white."

[aldona]

Sounds like an idea generated by a male.

Where are the penalties for males who are not virgins when they marry? What sort of clothing should we propose they wear? How about a color code - the more partners, the more colors? How many grooms would arrive at their wedding looking like circus clowns?

Or is premarital sexual activity only a female sin?

aldona

[Gerr]

Takes two to tango. But the bridegroom does not usually wear white, the symbol of purity as the bride does. The male makes no pretense of purity, in fact he usually wears something dark, even black, perhaps confessing the darkness of his past, whereas the bride wears white.

Gerry

[Dr. Shane]

Upholding the standard of female virginity on one's wedding day is only oppressive to women today as it was when it was orginally established. The intent isn't to punish those that are not virgins. It is to reward those that waited until marriage and thus encourage more to wait. That is a noble goal we should all agree on. How we achieve it is subject to debate.

Perhaps the enphasis on the female's virginity and not the male comes from the days when females vastly outnumbered males and it was common for male to marry more than one wife. In such situations, it would be common that the groom would not be a virgin but the bride would be.