sexual mores
Intimate conduct norms
Sexual mores are the customs and unwritten rules a society holds about acceptable sexual behavior—who may have sex with whom, under what circumstances, and what practices are considered normal or deviant.
These standards vary dramatically across cultures and eras: Victorian sexual mores forbade discussion of sex in polite company.
Unlike laws, mores operate through social pressure, shame, and approval.
The phrase often appears when describing shifts in attitudes: The sexual mores of the 1960s challenged earlier generations' assumptions about premarital sex.
- age of consentMinimum years for lawful agreement
- traditionCustom passed through generations
- marriage lawsStatutes governing legal unions
- living in sinUnmarried romantic cohabitation
- tabooCultural or social prohibition
fidelity · chastity · double standard · slut shaming · walk of shame · indigenous practices · permissiveness · one night stand · celibacy · purity ring · anti-discrimination laws · obscenity laws · modesty · intimacy · LGBTQ rights · no means no · reproductive rights · courtship rituals
sexual moresfree love
Unstructured romantic and sexual bonds
sexual liberation · purity culture · sexual freedom · Victorian morality · libertinism
sexual moressodomy laws
Statutes criminalizing particular sexual behaviors
criminal codes · marriage law · consent laws · legal sanctions · canon law
sexual moresprofessional ethics
Moral standards for occupations
business etiquette · religious observances · workplace conduct
sexual, sexy, sexes, sexed, sexing, sexuality, sexualize, sexualized, asexual