Saoirse Ronan says young people shouldn't rush into having sex.
Saoirse Ronan
The 24-year-old actress blames social media for exposing youngsters to explicit content too soon, and insisted they should be allowed to hold on to their innocence.
Saoirse told The Daily Mail newspaper: "There's no getting away from what we are exposed to in the media, music videos and everything on social media. They're all shouting at us to go out and have sex, 'Right Now', and most young people aren't ready. They should be allowed to hold onto their innocence.
"When my parents were younger, they'd watch telly in the evening. Now you go on Snapchat and all that's involved in those platforms. You wouldn't believe what people send each other! My friends and I discuss this a lot and I do think some kids feel they have to scramble into having sex before they even have a clue what it is they're going to do."
But in contrast, Saoirse's character Florence in the new film adaptation of Ian McEwan's 'On Chesil Beach' finds herself on her wedding night knowing nothing of what to expect about sex.
Saoirse admitted: "Florence and Edward were both virgins on their wedding night. They didn't grow up in a time where they could discuss their feelings."
Florence's knowledge of sex came from a manual that described the act, "like it was some sort of science experiment".
Three-time Oscar-nominated actress is Saoirse recently spoke of her pride at being part of a female revolution in Hollywood as a result of the Time's Up movement.
She said: "There is a female revolution going on right now.
"We're just at a point where you can't escape and we have to do something about it, on both sides - men and women.
"I can see in our industry that so many women have come together to actively pursue civil rights and create a safer and fairer environment. We've gone from saying, 'Yes, we really need to make a change and we've all got to stick together' to, 'Oh f**k, we really need to make a change.' Now more than ever, feminism is at the core of my life."
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