Virginity

"Virgin" and "Maiden" redirect here. For other uses, see Virgin (disambiguation) and Maiden (disambiguation).
Youth by French painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau. White has traditionally been associated with ritual purity, innocence and virginity in Western cultures.

Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse;[1][2] it is considered a social construct, not an objective term with an operational definition.[3] Social definitions of virginity therefore vary. Heterosexual individuals may or may not consider loss of virginity to occur only through penile-vaginal penetration,[4][5][6][7] while people of other sexual orientations often include oral sex, anal sex, or manual sex in their definitions of losing one's virginity.[4][8][9] The term virgin encompasses a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern and ethical concepts.[4][10][5][8] Religious rituals for regaining virginity exist in many cultures. Some men and women consider themselves born-again virgins.

There are cultural and religious traditions that place special value and significance on this state, predominantly towards unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor, and worth. Like chastity, the concept of virginity has traditionally involved sexual abstinence. The concept of virginity usually involves moral or religious issues and can have consequences in terms of social status and in interpersonal relationships.[4][11] Although virginity has social implications and had significant legal implications in some societies in the past, it has no legal consequences in most societies today. The social implications of virginity still remain in many societies and can have varying effects on an individual's social agency.

  1. ^ "Virginity". Merriam-Webster. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
  2. ^ "Virginity". TheFreeDictionary.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference paediatrician was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c d See here [1] Archived 2016-12-01 at the Wayback Machine and pages 47–49 Archived 2016-12-01 at the Wayback Machine for views on what constitutes virginity loss and therefore sexual intercourse or other sexual activity; source discusses male virginity, how gay and lesbian individuals define virginity loss, and how the majority of researchers and heterosexuals define virginity loss/"technical virginity" by whether or not a person has engaged in penile-vaginal sex. Laura M. Carpenter (2005). Virginity Lost: An Intimate Portrait of First Sexual Experiences. NYU Press. pp. 295 pages. ISBN 978-0-8147-1652-6. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  5. ^ a b Bryan Strong; Christine DeVault; Theodore F. Cohen (2010). The Marriage and Family Experience: Intimate Relationship in a Changing Society. Cengage Learning. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-534-62425-5. Archived from the original on July 24, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2011. Most people agree that we maintain virginity as long as we refrain from sexual (vaginal) intercourse. But occasionally we hear people speak of 'technical virginity' [...] Data indicate that 'a very significant proportion of teens ha[ve] had experience with oral sex, even if they haven't had sexual intercourse, and may think of themselves as virgins' [...] Other research, especially research looking into virginity loss, reports that 35% of virgins, defined as people who have never engaged in vaginal intercourse, have nonetheless engaged in one or more other forms of heterosexual sexual activity (e.g., oral sex, anal sex, or mutual masturbation).
  6. ^ Friedman, Mindy (September 20, 2005). "Sex on Tuesday: Virginity: A Fluid Issue". The Daily Californian. Archived from the original on 2009-05-06. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  7. ^ Richard D. McAnulty; M. Michele Burnette (2000). Making Healthy Decisions. Allyn & Bacon. p. 229. ISBN 978-0-205-19519-0.
  8. ^ a b Hanne Blank (2008). Virgin: The Untouched History. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. pp. 304 pages. ISBN 978-1-59691-011-9. Retrieved October 8, 2011.
  9. ^ Joseph Gross, Michael (2003). Like a Virgin. Here Publishing. p. 45. 0001-8996. Retrieved 2011-03-13. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  10. ^ Linda Rae Bennett (2005). Women, Islam and modernity: single women, sexuality and reproductive health in contemporary Indonesia. Psychology Press. pp. 19–21. ISBN 978-0-415-32929-3. Retrieved October 9, 2011.