Virginity

In Roman times, the Vestal Virgins remained celibate for 30 years on penalty of death.

A virgin (or maiden) originally meant a woman who has never had sexual intercourse. It is derived from the Latin virgo, which means "sexually inexperienced woman". As in Latin, the English word is also often used with wider reference, by relaxing the age, gender or sexual criteria. Hence, more mature women can be virgins (The Virgin Queen), men can be virgins, and potential initiates into many fields can be colloquially termed virgins; for example, a skydiving "virgin". In the latter usage, virgin simply means uninitiated.

By extension from its primary sense, the idea that a virgin has a sexual "blank slate", unchanged by any past intimate connection or experience, leads to the abstraction of unadulterated purity (see below). Hence, virgin can even be used with non-human referents. Unalloyed metal is sometimes described as virgin. Some cocktails can be described as virgin, when lacking the alcoholic admixture. Similarly, olive oil may be called virgin if it contains no refined oil and has an appropriate acidity. Unfertilized gametes and computer systems can be virgin. Females of various species, by analogy with Homo sapiens, if they have never mated, can also be called virgin.

The loss of virginity may call to mind the end of innocence, and the beginning of sexual maturity. In this association "virgin" often references the first instance of a potentially extended series of like events. Just as extra-virgin olive oil is from the first pressing, so a maiden or virgin speech is an incumbent's first address. The same metaphor, using the synonym maiden, is applied to the first or maiden voyage of a ship. In cricket, a maiden over is an over from which no runs were scored. Maiden castles are those with the reputation of never having been captured.

Chastity does not imply virginity. Chastity derives from the Latin castitas, meaning "cleanliness" or "purity"—and does not necessarily mean the renunciation of all sexual relations, but rather the temperate sexual behavior of legitimately married spouses, for the purpose of procreation, or the sexual continence of the unmarried.

Etymology

The word virgin comes via Old French virgine from the root form of Latin [virgo] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), genitive [virgin-is] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), meaning literally "maiden" or "virgin"—a sexually intact young woman. The Latin word probably arose by analogy with a suit of lexemes based on [vireo] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), meaning "to be green, fresh or flourishing", mostly with botanic reference—in particular, [virga] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) meaning "strip of wood". The first known use of virgin in English comes from an Anglo-Saxon manuscript held at Trinity College, Cambridge.

• c. 1200: Ðar haueð ... martirs, and confessors, and uirgines maked faier bode inne to women. — Trinity College Homilies 185 [ms B.15.34 (369)]

In this, and many later contexts, the reference is specifically Christian, alluding to members of the Ordo Virginum known to have existed since the early church from the writings of the Church Fathers. However, within about a century, the word was expanded to apply also to Mary, the mother of Jesus, hence to sexual virginity explicitly.

• c. 1300: Conceiud o þe hali gast, born o þe virgine marie. — Cursor Mundi 24977

Further expansion of the word to include virtuous (or naïve) young women, irrespective of religious connection, occurred over about another century.

• c. 1400: Voide & vacand of vices as virgyns it ware. — The Wars of Alexander 4665

These are just three of the eighteen definitions of virgin from the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED1, pages 230-232). Most of the OED1 definitions, however, are very similar.

Frank Harris (1923) claims to have given the following humorous etymology in a lecture, " 'vir,' as everyone knows, is Latin for a man, while 'gin' is good old English for a trap; virgin is therefore a mantrap." Other, serious, but unsupported etymologies exist in print.

The German word for "virgin" is Jungfrau. Jungfrau literally means "young woman", but is not used in this sense. Instead "junge Frau" can be used. The rather dated German word for a young (unmarried) woman, without implications regarding sexuality, is Fräulein. Fräulein was used in German as a title of respect, equivalent to current usage of Miss in English. Jungfrau is the word reserved specifically for sexual inexperience. As Frau means "woman", it suggests a female referent. Unlike English, German also has a specific word for a male virgin Jüngling ("Youngling"). It is, however, dated too and rarely used. Jungfrau, with some masculine modifier, is more typical, as evidenced by the film, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, about a 40 year-old male virgin, titled in German, "Jungfrau (40), männlich, sucht…". Note that the term used for the starsign virgo also is Jungfrau, which makes the above movie title ambiguous. German also distinguishes between young women and girls, who are denoted by the word Mädchen. The English cognate "maid" was often used to imply virginity, especially in poetry.

German is not the only language to have a specific name for male virginity; in French, male virgins are called "puceau" or "Joseph" whereas a number of indigenous Bolivians, males presenting with phimosis who injure their frenulum during first penetration are said to be "uncartridged" as opposed to "cartridged" before first intercourse.

By contrast, the Greek word for "virgin" is parthenos (παρθένος, see Parthenon). Although typically applied to women, like English, it is also applied to men, in both cases specifically denoting absence of sexual experience. When used of men, it does not carry a strong association of "never-married" status. However, in reference to women, historically, it was sometimes used to refer to an engaged woman—parthenos autou (παρθένος αὐτού, his virgin) = his fiancée as opposed to gunē autou (γυνή αὐτού, his woman) = his wife. This distinction is necessary due to there being no specific word for wife (or husband) in Greek.

In culture

In a cross-cultural study, At what age do women and men have their first sexual intercourse? (2003) Michael Bozon of the French Institut national d'études démographiques found that contemporary cultures to fall into three broad categories.

In the first group, the data indicated families arranging marriage for daughters as close to puberty as possible with significantly older men. Age of men at sexual initiation in these societies is at later ages than that of women, but is often extra-marital. This group included sub-Saharan Africa (the study listed Mali, Senegal and Ethiopia). The study considered the Indian subcontinent also fell into this group, although data were only available from Nepal.

In the second group, the data indicated families encouraged daughters to delay marriage, and to abstain from sexual activity prior to it. However, sons are encouraged to gain experience with older women or prostitutes prior to marriage. Age of men at sexual initiation in these societies is at lower ages than that of women. This group includes Latin cultures, both from southern Europe (Portugal, Greece and Romania are noted) and from Latin America (Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic). The study considered many Asian societies also fell into this group, although matching data were only available from Thailand.

In the third group, age of men and women at sexual initiation was more closely matched. There were two sub-groups, however. In non-Latin, Catholic countries (Poland and Lithuania are mentioned), age at sexual initiation was higher, suggesting later marriage and reciprocal valuing of male and female virginity. The same pattern of late marriage and reciprocal valuing of virginity was reflected in Singapore and Sri Lanka. The study considered China and Vietnam also fell into this group, although data were not available.

Finally, in northern and eastern European countries, age at sexual initiation was lower, with both men and women involved in sexual activity prior to any union formation. The study listed Switzerland, Germany and the Czech Republic as members of this group.

Consistent with the northern European findings above, a more recent sex education survey of UK teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17 in 2008 (conducted by YouGov for Channel 4), showed that only 6% of these teenagers intended waiting until marriage before having sex.

Perceived value and "technical virginity"

Female virginity is closely interwoven with personal or even family honor in many cultures, especially those known as shame societies, in which the loss of virginity before marriage is a matter of deep shame. For example, among the Bantu of South Africa, virginity testing or even the suturing of the labia majora (called infibulation) has been commonplace. Traditionally, Kenuzi girls (of the Sudan) are married before puberty by adult men who inspect them manually for virginity. Female circumcision is later performed at puberty to ensure chastity.

History evidences laws and customs that required a man who seduced or raped a virgin to take responsibility for the consequences of his offense by marrying the girl or by paying compensation to her father on her behalf. In some countries until the late 20th century, if a man did not marry a woman whose virginity he had taken, the woman was allowed to sue the man for money, in some languages named "wreath money".

Emphasizing the monetary value of female virginity, some women have offered their virginity for sale. In 2004, a lesbian student from the University of Bristol was said to have sold her virginity online for £8,400, and Londoner Rosie Reid, 18, reportedly slept with a 44-year-old BT engineer in a Euston hotel room against payment for her virginity. In 2008, Italian model Raffaella Fico, then 20 years old, offered her virginity for €1 million. In that same year, an American using the pseudonym Natalie Dylan announced she would accept bids for her virginity through a Nevada brothel's web site.

Some historians and anthropologists note that many societies before the sexual revolution that place a high value on virginity before marriage actually have a large amount of premarital sexual activity that does not involve vaginal penetration: for example, oral sex, anal sex and mutual masturbation. This is considered "technical" virginity, as vaginal intercourse has not occurred but the participants are sexually active. Since the early 1990s, the concept of "technical" virginity has been popular among US teenagers. Additionally, some gay males may consider oral sex "technical virginity" in comparison to anal penetration. In 1999, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which examines the definition of sex based on a 1991 random sample of 599 college students from 29 US states, found that 60% said oral-genital contact did not constitute having sex. "That's the 'technical virginity' thing that's going on," said Stephanie Sanders, associate director of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction at Indiana University. Sanders, as the co-author of the study, and along with other researchers, titled the findings "Would You Say You 'Had Sex' If ...?" In another study, published in 2001 in The Journal of Sex Research, over half of respondents considered that virginity could only be lost through having consensual sex.

Loss of virginity

The act of losing one's virginity is commonly considered within many cultures to be an important life event and a rite of passage. The loss of virginity may be viewed as a milestone in a person's life.

In human females, the hymen is a thin film of membrane situated just inside the vulva which can partially occlude the entrance to the vaginal canal. It is flexible and can be stretched or torn during first engagement in vaginal intercourse. Throughout history, the presence of an intact hymen has been seen by many as physical evidence of virginity, particularly alongside "proof of blood", virginity as proved by the presence of vaginal bleeding from intercourse connected to the tearing of the hymen.

The presence of a hymen is often considered to be an indication of virginity, but is no guarantee given that some degree of sexual activity may occur without rupturing the hymen. The lack of a hymen is an even less clear indication of virginity lost as the hymen's shape, thickness and coverage is extremely variable, and one that does occlude the entrance to the vaginal canal may be broken through means other than sexual activity. It is a common belief that some women simply lack a hymen, but some doubt has been cast on this by a recent study. It is likely that almost all women are born with a hymen, but not necessarily ones that will experience a measurable change during first experience of vaginal intercourse.

There may also exist varying definitions as to the type and extent of sexual activity that is considered by a person to terminate the state of "virginity" as the definition of virginity is problematized by some experiences. For example, the prevailing notion of virginity as lost only through vaginal intercourse is problematized by homosexuality, as well as by some youth who engage in oral or anal sex for the purpose of retaining their vaginal virginity. The issue is further complicated by the availability of hymenorrhaphy surgical procedures which repair or replace the hymen, marketed to both sexually active women to restore their "virginity", as well as to virginal women who are concerned that their hymens may not provide adequate proof of their virginity through bleeding or the perceived tightness of their vagina.

In the majority of women, the hymen is sufficiently vestigial as to pose no obstruction to the entryway of the vagina. The presence of a broken hymen may therefore indicate that the vagina has been penetrated but also that it was broken via physical activity or the use of a tampon or dildo. Many women possess such thin, fragile hymens, easily stretched and already perforated at birth, that the hymen can be broken in childhood without the woman even being aware of it, often through athletic activities. A slip while riding a bicycle may on occasion result in the bicycle's saddle-horn entering the introitus just far enough to break the hymen.

In rare cases a woman may possess an imperforate hymen that prevents the release of menstrual discharge. A surgical procedure known as hymenotomy, which creates an opening in the hymen, is sometimes required to avert deleterious health effects. The playwright Ben Jonson claimed that Queen Elizabeth I of England, the Virgin Queen, had a "membranum" that made her "incapable of Man", and that a friend of hers, a "chirurgeon", had offered to remedy the problem with his scalpel and that Elizabeth had demurred.

Some studies have shown that people continue to lose their virginity at an earlier age than previous generations. The 2005 Durex Global sex survey reports that people worldwide are having sex for the first time at an average age of 17.3 (ranging from 15.6 in Iceland to 19.8 in India).

Analogies relating to virginity

The sexual partner during the loss of virginity is sometimes colloquially said to "take" the virginity of the virgin partner. In some places, this colloquialism is only used when the partner is not a virgin, but in other places, the virginity of the partner does not matter. The term "deflower" is sometimes used to also describe the act of the virgin's partner, and the clinical term "defloration" is another way to describe the event.

Virgins are sometimes referred to as bloody marys because of the blood produced from the tearing of the hymen, and the name from the Virgin Mother Mary.

One slang term used for virginity is "cherry" (often, this term refers to the hymen, but can refer to virginity in males or females) and for a virgin, deflowering is said to "pop her cherry," a reference to destruction of the hymen during first intercourse.

A curious term often seen in English translations of the works of the Marquis de Sade is to depucelate. This word is apparently a literal translation of dépuceler, a French verb derived from pucelle (n.f.), which means "virgin". Joan of Arc was commonly called "la Pucelle" by her admirers.

Cultural anthropology

Cultural anthropologists have discovered that romantic love and sexual jealousy are universal features of human relationships. Social values related to virginity reflect both sexual jealousy and ideals of romantic love, and appear to be deeply embedded in human nature.

Social psychology

Psychology explores the connection between thought and behavior. Seeking understanding of social (or anti-social) behaviors includes sexual behavior. Joan Kahn and Kathryn London studied U.S. women married between 1965 and 1985 to see if virginity at marriage influenced risk of divorce.

This article examines the relationship between premarital sexual activity and the long-term risk of divorce among U.S. women married between 1965 and 1985. Simple cross-tabulations from the 1988 National Survey of Family Growth indicate that women who were sexually active prior to marriage faced a considerably higher risk of marital disruption than women who were virgin brides. A bivariate probit model is employed to examine three possible explanations for this positive relationship: (a) a direct causal effect, (b) an indirect effect through intervening "high risk" behaviors (such as having a premarital birth or marrying at a young age), and (c) a selectivity effect representing prior differences between virgins and non-virgins (such as family background or attitudes and values). After a variety of observable characteristics are controlled, non-virgins still face a much higher risk of divorce than virgins. However, when the analysis controls for unobserved characteristics affecting both the likelihood of having premarital sex and the likelihood of divorce, the differential is no longer significant. These results suggest that the positive relationship between premarital sex and the risk of divorce can be attributed to prior unobserved differences (e.g., the willingness to break traditional norms) rather than to a direct causal effect.

This study makes no recommendation; it simply notes that the women most likely to exercise freedom to enter sexual relationships prior to marriage, overlap significantly with the women most likely to exercise freedom to leave a relationship after marriage. Men were not the subject of this study.

Religion

Hinduism

In Sanskrit a virgin is called akṣata-yoni. Kṣata means "diminished", a is the negating prefix and yoni refers to female reproductive organs generically — used freely for womb or vulva as context requires. Hence akṣata-yoni suggests something like "undefiled womb" or "unspoiled vulva", but could be understood specifically as "unruptured hymen". Common related words are kanyā and kumārī, which refer to a young, unmarried girl, a bride or a daughter in general. Whilst virginity is not strictly implied by the words, it is generally presumed. These are also names of the goddess Durga, who is a virgin in some of her aspects or manifestations (see Avatar).

a Purāṇa text:

The sun-god said: O beautiful Pṛthā, your meeting with the demigods cannot be fruitless. Therefore, let me place my seed in your womb so that you may bear a son. I shall arrange to keep your virginity intact, since you are still an unmarried girl."

a legal text attributed to Manu:

The nuptial texts pertaining to unmarried virgins are applied solely to unmarried virgins, (and) nowhere among men to unmarried females who have lost their virginity, for such (females) are excluded only from (those) nuptial religious ceremonies."

Contemporary Hinduism

In conservative Hindu societies in India, any form of premarital sexual intercourse is still frowned upon. No legal statutes exist that explicitly require virginity as a requirement for marriage.

Judaism

Virginity first appears in the Jewish scriptures in Genesis, where Eliezer is seeking a wife for his master's son. He meets Rebekah, and the narrative tells us, "the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her"(in biblical terms, to know is used to show sexual relations) (Genesis 24:16). Virginity is a recurring theme in the Bible — the nation is frequently personified as the virgin daughter of Israel in the prophetic poetry. It is a wistful phrase, since Genesis also says that Israel's (Jacob's) only daughter Dinah was, in fact, raped as she entered the promised land. The Torah also contains laws governing betrothal, marriage and divorce, with particular provisions regarding virginity in Deuteronomy 22.

Sex in Judaism is not seen as dirty or undesirable — in fact, sex within marriage is considered a mitzvah, or desirable virtue (literally a 'commandment'). Jewish law contains rules related to protecting female virgins and dealing with consensual and non-consensual pre-marital sex. The thrust of Jewish law's guidance on sex is effectively that it should not be rejected, but should be lived as a wholesome part of life.

Although there is a provision in Judaism for sex outside of marriage, the idea of a pilegesh, it is very seldom used, partially because of the emphasis placed on marriage and other social pressures, and partially because some prominent Rabbis have been opposed to it, for example Maimonides.

While a child born of certain forbidden relationships, such as adultery or incest, is considered a mamzer, approximately translated as illegitimate, who can only marry another mamzer. A child born out of wedlock is not considered a mamzer unless also adulterous or incestuous.

Greece and Rome

Virginity has been often considered to be a virtue denoting purity and physical self-restraint and is an important characteristic of Greek goddesses Athena, Artemis, and Hestia. The Vestal Virgins were strictly celibate priestesses of Vesta. The constellation Virgo is said to represent various mythological figures known for virginity. In the documentary, What is a Virgin? it is mentioned that the woman's virginity was more important for the state than herself, and if a vestal virgin was found having sexual relations she would be buried alive.

Christianity

The New Testament, a core Christian text, views sex within marriage positively, in fact, it is encouraged in 1 Corinthians 7. Just as this chapter is against sex without marriage, so it is against marriage without sex. Self control is valued, however it is considered unrealistic for most, and therefore allows for sexual expression in the safe boundaries of marriage.

Some have theorized that the New Testament was not against sex before marriage. The discussion turns on two Greek words — moicheia (μοιχεία, adultery) and porneia (el:πορνεία, fornication see also pornography). The first word is restricted to contexts involving sexual betrayal of a spouse, however the second word is used as a generic term for illegitimate sexual activity. As such it is not specific about which particular behaviours are considered illegitimate. Elsewhere in 1 Corinthians, incest, homosexual intercourse (according to some interpretations) and prostitution are all explicitly forbidden by name. Paul is preaching about activities based on levitical sexual prohibitions in the context of achieving holiness while the (non-canonical) Acts of Thomas use porneia as only those activities outside of a monogamous sexual relationship such as adultery and multiple partners which implies he does not see premarital sex as a hindrance to holiness. The theory suggests it is these, and only these behaviours that are intended by Paul's prohibition in chapter seven. The strongest argument against this theory is that the modern interpretation of the New outside Corinthians, speaks against pre-marital sex;

As in Judaism, the interpretation of Genesis is that it describes sex as a gift from God to be celebrated within the context of marriage. The New Testament also speaks of the Christian's body as a holy temple that the Spirit of God comes to dwell in. (1 Corinthians 3:16) Purity in general is deeply threaded throughout the entire Bible.

Christian orthodoxy accepts the New Testament claim that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin at the time Jesus was conceived, based on the accounts in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. The Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox denominations, additionally hold to the dogma of the perpetual virginity of Mary. However, some Protestant denominations cite evidence against this including Mark 6:3: "Isn't this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren't His sisters here with us?". The Catholic Church holds that in Semitic usage the terms "brother," "sister" are applied not only to children of the same parents, but to nephews, nieces, cousins, half-brothers, and half-sisters. Catholics, Orthodox Christians and other groups may refer to her as the Virgin Mary or the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Catholic theology

Virgo inter Virgines (The Blessed virgin Mary with other holy virgins), anonymous, Bruges, last quarter of the 15th Century.

The Catholic Encyclopedia says: "There are two elements in virginity: the material element, that is to say, the absence, in the past and in the present, of all complete and voluntary delectation, whether from lust or from the lawful use of marriage; and the formal element, that is the firm resolution to abstain forever from sexual pleasure." And, "Virginity is irreparably lost by sexual pleasure, voluntarily and completely experienced." However, for the purposes of consecrated virgins it is canonically enough that they have never been married or lived in open violation of chastity.

Aquinas, emphasizing that acts other than copulation destroy virginity, but also clarifying that involuntary sexual pleasure or pollution does not destroy virginity says in his Summa Theologica, "Pleasure resulting from resolution of semen may arise in two ways. If this be the result of the mind's purpose, it destroys virginity, whether copulation takes place or not. Augustine, however, mentions copulation, because such like resolution is the ordinary and natural result thereof. On another way this may happen beside the purpose of the mind, either during sleep, or through violence and without the mind's consent, although the flesh derives pleasure from it, or again through weakness of nature, as in the case of those who are subject to a flow of semen. On such cases virginity is not forfeit, because such like pollution is not the result of impurity which excludes virginity."

Some female saints and blesseds are indicated by the church as Virgin. These were consecrated virgins, nuns or unmarried women known for a life in chastity. Being referred to as Virgin can especially mean being a member of the Ordo Virginum (Order of virgins), which applies to the consecrated virgins living in the world or in monastic orders.

Christian Mysticism and Gnostic Christianity

In Christian mysticism, Gnosticism, as well as some Hellenistic religions, there is a female spirit or Goddess named Sophia that is said to embody wisdom and who is sometimes described as a virgin. In Roman Catholic mysticism, Hildegard of Bingen celebrated Sophia as a cosmic figure both in her writing and art. Within the Protestant tradition in England, 17th Century Christian Mystic, Universalist and founder of the Philadelphian Society Jane Leade wrote copious descriptions of her visions and dialogues with the "Virgin Sophia" who, she said, revealed to her the spiritual workings of the Universe. Leade was hugely influenced by the theosophical writings of 16th Century German Christian mystic Jakob Böhme, who also speaks of the Sophia in works such as The Way to Christ. Jakob Böhme was very influential to a number of Christian mystics and religious leaders, including George Rapp and the Harmony Society. The Harmony Society was a religious pietist group that lived communally, were pacifistic, and advocated celibacy among its membership.

Medicine and biology

See also: Hymenoplasty

In early modern Europe, prolonged virginity in women was believed to cause the disease of chlorosis or "green sickness".

For cross breedings of some laboratory animals, females are needed that have not already copulated in order to ensure that the offspring possess the intended genotype. To do this in Drosophila flies for example, females are used that are maximally 6 to 8 hours old (at 25 °C); only after this period has elapsed do inseminations begin.

The term "coitarche" is used in medical context to describe first coitus.

See also

• Almah
• Born-again virgin
• Brahmacharya
• Celibacy
• Sworn virgin
• Vestal virgin
• Virgo (astrology)
• Virginity fraud

Bibliography

Journal articles

• Armour, Stacy and Dana L Haynie. 'Adolescent Sexual Debut and Later Delinquency'. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 36 (2007): 141-152. [abstract only]
• Bozon, Michael. 'At what age do women and men have their first sexual intercourse? World comparisons and recent trends'. Population and Societies 391 (2003) 1–4.
• Cooksey, Elizabeth C., Frank L. Mott and Stefanie A. Neubauer. 'Friendships and Early Relationships: Links to Sexual Initiation Among American Adolescents Born to Young Mothers'. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 34 (2002): 118–126.
• Goodson, P., A. Evans and E. Edmundson. 'Female adolescents and onset of sexual intercourse: A theory-based review of research from 1984 to 1994.' Journal of Adolescent Health 21 (1997): 147-156. [abstract only]
• Rich, Lauren M. and Sun-Bin Kim. 'Employment and the sexual and reproductive behavior of female adolescents'. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 34 (2002).
• Rosenberg, J. 'Age at first sex and human papillomavirus infection linked through behavioral factors and partner's traits'. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 34 (2002).

Monographs

• Bently, Thomas. The Monument of Matrones: Conteining Seven Severall Lamps of Virginitie. Thomas Dawson, 1582.
• Carpenter, Laura. Virginity Lost: An Intimate Portrait of First Sexual Experiences. New York University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8147-1653-9