Redefining sex and virginity
By Rebecca Dieschbourg
Do you still have your V-card, or have you cashed it in? Answering this question depends on how you define the word "virgin." Given modern perspectives on sex, defining virginity can present itself as a challenge to many.
In today's world, where sexual orientation and gender identity span a multitude of possibilities, the customary definition excludes a wide cross section of individuals. Traditionally, the only way to lose one's virginity was through penile-vaginal intercourse, usually culminating in an orgasm and ejaculation of semen. Sexuality was preserved for married heterosexual couples and intrinsically linked to procreation.
The burden of preserving one's virginity has historically been left to women due to centuries of patriarchal social structures. Time has sourced a virgin/whore dichotomy in which women are forced into a saintly standard of moral purity or pejoratively disgraced as a wanton slut.
Whereas virginity once communicated celibacy in a time when women needed to uphold their family honor by remaining untainted and to retain their desirability as "wife" material, the concept is now ambiguous and far less important when contemplating lifelong partnerships.
The textbook definition of virginity, for instance, considers anyone who has oral or anal sex frequently to retain virgin status. However, I doubt same-sex couples consider themselves virgins and may instead redefine the term to mean sharing in the utmost, intimate sexual encounter that is in accordance with one's orientation. Others link virginity to a state of mind requiring emotional and passionate sex to override meaningless and purely physical sex. Some victims of sexual assault may command that V-cards be willingly offered and never taken.
The importance placed on preserving one's virginity is becoming less and less emphasized. White wedding dresses no longer symbolize a woman's sexual abstinence, and birth control pills are taken more often than Advil. A woman's hymen can break during sports games or never at all, and there is a growing trend of pre-pubescent teens engaging in sexual activities. And thanks to in-vitro fertilization, anyone can be the next virgin mother.
Factors like casual sex and various sexual orientations are causing people to abandon virginity's traditional value and allows individuals to assign it personal meaning. No one should feel restrained by archaic, misogynistic and strict definitions of what sex and virginity involve.
Determine what virginity means to you and respect the modern spectrum of interpretations no matter how sacred or profane they may seem.
Rebecca Dieschbourg is a senior mathematics major.