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Virginity is an overly romanticised societal construct

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Credit: Maya Avelar / The Foothill Dragon Press

 

We are taught the concept of virginity in all different places of life. In school, health education teaches that a virgin is described as someone who has never had sex. In some religious context, we are taught to remain virgins until marriage in order to purify the wedlock. By our parents, we are either taught abstinence or sexual freedom—two very different approaches to educating about sex. From our peers and society, we learn that being a virgin is frowned upon but being sexually active shouldn’t be discussed. Are you confused yet?—because I am.

A virgin is described as someone who has never had sex. Colloquially, you will primarily hear of girls being referred to as virgins. Societal norms have constructed virginity into an unnecessary milestone for females and a conquest for males, therefore a common discussion amongst teens revolves around: “Have you lost your virginity yet?”

Virginity is not a tangible object, so how can you lose something that isn’t palpable? Is this a trade system? Would I have someone else’s virginity in exchange for mine?

Sex and virginity are topics that are often danced around when it comes up in conversation. A school or classroom atmosphere makes it sound sterile and strange. At home and with parents, sex is viewed as taboo and many girls and boys aren’t comfortable talking to their parents about virginity. The lack of conversation is what leads to a copious amount of misconceptions about sex, but virginity in particular. One of these utterly erroneous notions is that a girl isn’t a virgin if she uses a tampon.

Some religious or family beliefs may encourage girls to remain abstinent until marriage, and that the hymen is the determining factor of this “purity.” An even more extreme idea is that even using a tampon will tarnish a female’s purity because the hymen would be stretched. The belief that if the hymen is stretched or torn, a woman is no longer a virgin is complete ignorance; having a hymen is not correlated with never having had sex.

The hymen is a thin, fleshy tissue at the opening of the vagina and, just like every other part of the body, the hymen is different for everyone. Some are small, some are bigger and some people don’t have one at all. For most people, the hymen is already stretched before they have vaginal sex, which could be attributed to biking, wearing a tampon, or masturbating. If the hymenal tissue is the determining factor of virginity, then we all “lost” our virginity after learning how to ride a bike at age 6.  

Most importantly, virginity is different for everyone. While Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a virgin as a person who has not had sexual intercourse, it can mean different things for different people. Sexual intercourse implies penetrative sex, or penis-in-vagina sex. But what about oral sex? Are homosexual couples forever virgins? The concept of virginity is heteronormative and only implies the usage of a penis and a vagina.

For a lesbian couple, the loss of virginity may come after the first time a girl experiences cunniligus; or a heterosexual girl may feel like she has experienced a sexual encounter and is no longer a virgin. The same goes for a gay couple: is their virginity a factor when only giving or received fellatio or anal sex? All are still sexual experiences, but a loss of virginity is viewed through a cultural eye as being limited to penis-vagina sex, which is why the concept of being a virgin is exclusive and outdated.

It is critical to note that while it may feel like every high schooler is talking about sex, not every high schooler is having sex. Only about 41 percent of teens have reported ever having sex, but that doesn’t mean that it is recurring. This number has decreased in the past 14 years from 54 percent to 41 percent—possibly because abstinence education is being taught more often in schools. Many choose to wait to have sex until marriage for either religious, familial or personal reasons. Some are just still waiting because they haven’t found a partner they trust and feel comfortable with. Other people may not want to have sex at all.

The most significant thing we can do in society is change the conversation around sex. It is mostly looked at as taboo, but sex should be accepted as a part of life instead of something people should feel guilty about. Virginity can become a less isolating concept if it is viewed from the perspective of something that isn’t lost, but instead as something that is meaningful.

What do you think?
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  • J

    John DoeDec 17, 2022 at 12:07 pm

    There are a few logical gaps I see in this article. It is well-written, but lacks in a few points.

    Dignity is also not a tangible object, so how can you lose something that isn’t palpable? I sure can dig up a deceased person’s body and mutilate them for some odd reason and I would be sure to tell you the person whom I am mutilating (if they were alive) would not be so happy.

    There’s a good reason why defacing someone’s grave is considered impermissible; it’s an attack on their dignity. It’s odd to point out that virginity is not a tangible object when many things in our daily lives (virtues, ideas, morals, etc…) aren’t tangible (and this would be cause for a philosophical discussion).

    If one considers virginity to be baseless due to the fact that it is “abstract” (and what an odd reason that is), then one has to also logically conclude that all other virtues (which are abstract by very nature) to also be baseless.

    I do find it very asinine for someone to be considered “not-a-virgin” if they use a tampon or if their hymen is broken. That’s… ridiculous, in my opinion.

    The main “appeal” (I suppose one could say) of virginity is for two reasons: a practical one and a societal one.

    The practical aspect of virginity is the fact that sexual diseases are less likely to be contracted by others who initiate in sexual intercourse. (ling expunged) The chart shown in the book on page 10 illustrates this clearly.

    The societal aspect of virginity is the fact that virginity is recognized by sociologists to be a defining factor in quality heterosexual relationships. Highly-religious couples enjoy higher-quality relationships and more seuxal satisfaction, compared to less/mixed religious couples and secular couples. (link expunged)

    According to W. Bradford Wilcox, women with zero or one previous sex partners before marriage were also least likely to divorce, while those with 10 or more were most likely. These divorce-proof brides are an exclusive crew: By the 2010s, he writes, just 5 percent of new brides were virgins. And just 6 percent of their marriages dissolved within five years, compared with 20 percent for most people. (link expunged).

    Virginity is useful as a societal construct and not to be considered unnecessary or antiquated. It’s one of the things that keeps men and women virtuous.

    As for homosexual peoples, virginity includes them as well. I fail to understand why the case of homosexual relationships (a sliver of the human population) would be the case in point against virginity. It still is a useful social construct (practically and socially) even for them as well.

    Eloquent article, Chloe.

    (links are expunged because the comment system doesn’t allow it. I have the sources, if you need them)

     
    Reply
  • J

    John DoeDec 15, 2022 at 10:53 am

    There are a few logical gaps I see in this article. It is well-written, but lacks in a few points.

    Dignity is also not a tangible object, so how can you lose something that isn’t palpable? I sure can dig up a deceased person’s body and mutilate them for some odd reason and I would be sure to tell you the person whom I am mutilating (if they were alive) would not be so happy.

    There’s a good reason why defacing someone’s grave is considered impermissible; it’s an attack on their dignity. It’s odd to point out that virginity is not a tangible object when many things in our daily lives (virtues, ideas, morals, etc…) aren’t tangible (and this would be cause for a philosophical discussion).

    If one considers virginity to be baseless due to the fact that it is “abstract” (and what an odd reason that is), then one has to also logically conclude that all other virtues (which are abstract by very nature) to also be baseless.

    I do find it very asinine for someone to be considered “not-a-virgin” if they use a tampon or if their hymen is broken. That’s… ridiculous, in my opinion.

    The main “appeal” (I suppose one could say) of virginity is for two reasons: a practical one and a societal one.

    The practical aspect of virginity is the fact that sexual diseases are less likely to be contracted by others who initiate in sexual intercourse. (linked expunged because the comment system does not allow links) The chart shown in the book on page 10 illustrates this clearly.

    The societal aspect of virginity is the fact that virginity is recognized by sociologists to be a defining factor in quality heterosexual relationships. Highly-religious couples enjoy higher-quality relationships and more seuxal satisfaction, compared to less/mixed religious couples and secular couples. (linked expunged because the comment system does not allow links)

    According to W. Bradford Wilcox, women with zero or one previous sex partners before marriage were also least likely to divorce, while those with 10 or more were most likely. These divorce-proof brides are an exclusive crew: By the 2010s, he writes, just 5 percent of new brides were virgins. And just 6 percent of their marriages dissolved within five years, compared with 20 percent for most people. (linked expunged because the comment system does not allow links).

    Virginity is useful as a societal construct and not to be considered unnecessary or antiquated. It’s one of the things that keeps men and women virtuous.

    As for homosexual peoples, virginity includes them as well. I fail to understand why the case of homosexual relationships (a sliver of the human population) would be the case in point against virginity. It still is a useful social construct (practically and socially) even for them as well.

    Eloquent article, Chloe.

    (I have the sources for my arguments, if you would like to see them, the comment system simply doesn’t allow me to post them, so I would be more than willing to show my sources if I had the ability to)

     
    Reply
  • C

    ColinMay 25, 2018 at 10:25 pm

    This is really awesome Chloe! I think I would agree that the concept of virginity is very confusing, and there is no cultural standard seeing as cultures change all the time. I think it’s important to consider, in the case of homosexual standards of virginity, that while perhaps in heterosexual culture there may be a “cultural eye” that limits what type of sex virginity is attributed to, I know for a fact that in popular gay culture (I can’t really speak for lesbian culture) there is definitely a lot to be said about what constitutes virginity based on a man’s sexual encounters with other men. Homosexual standards of virginity are an interesting contrast to those of heterosexuality, because there exists more variation depending on the person (ex. just being naked with another guy and actually having anal sex with him are both perceptions of a loss of virginity). However, in society as a whole, seeing as there are fewer homosexual people in the world than heterosexual people, I can see why you would say that the general worldview of virginity is outdated. When you mentioned the example of a heterosexual girl who has experienced a “sexual encounter”, my mind immediately went to the idea of sexual harassment or something similarly scandalous. I find that really shocking, but it makes sense seeing that we are exposed to those situations day after day by reading or watching the news. With this example, losing one’s virginity can actually destroy (in the case of an unwanted encounter) their previous social habits and status way easier and faster than unwanted sex can, albeit without a potential child involved. I’m glad you used that example, because it’s really hard to talk about but it’s really important. You’ve definitely introduced me and I’m sure lots of other people to this issue, and I definitely agree that the concept virginity is unimportant and inconsistent.
    P.S. Congrats on all those awards!

     
    Reply
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Virginity is an overly romanticised societal construct