If we look at the history of christianity, then yes it was taught that men and women should remain chaste until marriage. however, if we look at it from the socio-political historical standpoint, it was in fact the woman remaining a virgin that was emphasised. Marriage in the past few centuries was not about love - it was about titles and proptery ownership. Men were allowed much more power over their own bodies and what they did with them. A betrothal contract could be voided if a women was not a virgin upon entering the marriage bed - but the door did not swing both ways, at least in the past.
I am not sure what the origin of the double standard could be traced to - but I think it has more to do with men having more control and power do what they pleased, while women until recently lacked that right. Of course, as seen in historical texts and novels [like the Scarlet letter and Balthasar and Magdelena, its not that sex outside of the marriage didn't occur - its always been there [obviously, since the bible frequently talks about adultery and prostitution] but the level of social acceptance and social tolerance has changed.
In the modern age, and with the remnants of the sexual revolution deeply entrenched in out Sex and the City obsessed, pleasure seeking hedonistic age, that virginity seems like a dirty word. Whenever it happens to come up in conversation, people stare at me like there is something wrong with me, or they ask silly questions about how its possible. I just smile, because while they think I don't know what I am missing, I know exactly what they are missing.