Virginity In The United States

Through time various standards that we as individuals are accustomed to have evolved. Currently, in the twenty-first century, things that have to do with marriage and sex are completely different than what has considered the “norm” many decades ago. Now, it is far more socially acceptable for women to be open about their sexuality and about being sexual beings. Women were supposed to uphold a certain image as being “perfect and innocent” Whereas years ago, a woman expressing her sexuality was known to be a “taboo” and was looked down on. Not only that, but the marriage was also a thing that is seen as what women were born and had to do. Women were also left in unhappy marriages whereas now, divorce rates have increased. I believe that

The idea of virginity dates back to the 1200s; the term virgin has derived from the Latin word “virgo” meaning maiden or sexually inexperienced young women. In the 1300s virgin was used to describe Mary who gave birth to Jesus. Although in present day english people of all genders can be referred to as a virgin, it is a term that is more commonly used to describe women. With strong associations to saints, virgin has become synonymous to words such as “pure” and “innocent.” The concept of virginity has been around for centuries, how does the social construct of virginity affect women in Canada and USA from 2000- 2015? Is virginity a necessary idea or an outdated one that just uselessly controls the actions and desires of women?

Across the globe, women of all walks of life are constantly oppressed by their male counterparts, shamed for actions frowned upon simply because of the double standards they are assigned since birth. In many cultures, women are viewed below men, and as a result they are forced to cater to all of the unfair expectations that men demand from them. One of the most popular and universal expectations is the belief that a woman must retain her virginity until marriage. In Half The Sky, women who disobeyed these unwritten laws of society faced the most extreme and harsh consequences. In one instance, a girl named Du’a Aswad went out late with a boy, and didn’t return until the morning. It was immediately assumed that she had slept with him, despite

Overall, even though the historical norm for sex has been between adult partners, sexual practices and attitudes has changed over the years to include hooking up, which has emerged as a pattern among society in the United States. Nevertheless, it can caused problems in today’s culture. Hooking up will eventually evolve into other sexual practices as the American culture changes in subsequent

The concept of virginity has been used for thousands of years as a measure of woman’s value and worth, families giving away their daughters and being publicly ashamed if the gift was secondhand and spoiled. Considering that it was in a receiver’s best interest to purchase the unused good and the receiver was largely male, it is reasonable to conclude that virginity was defined and designed by those in power, male dominated institutions and societal structures. However, although intimate relationships became more a matter of an individual choice in Western societies, internalization of the guilt accompanying the loss of virginity as well as the favorable portrayal of an ethical virgin by both state and media perpetuates the utilization of

This documentary is about Shelby Knox who wants to change the sex education system in Lubbox. Lubbox is a town that has the highest teen pregnancy and STI rates in the country. Lubbox teaches abstinence only sex education which is clearly not working. Shelby tried to convince the school and others to teach kids a comprehensive sex education.

Men don’t seem to face as many issues as women do when it comes to their virginites, an unfair advantage many women have come to accept. Unfair treatment regarding their bodies also seems to have a negative impact on women and their perceptions of sex. Antoinette Landor and Leslie Simmons use their article about virginity pledges to point out just how unfair this treatment seems to be. In this article they elaborate that not only were boys less pressured into virginity pledges but also "gender differences for the influence of religion on sexual behavior have been reported. For example, women were less likely to report engaging in risky sexual behaviour due to religious values" (Landor and Simmons 1103). Boys are more likely to endanger themselves

In the United States, 61.6% of high school seniors have had sexual intercourse (Kittleson and Howard-Barr 115) and the rates of teenage pregnancy are the highest among developed nations (Weaver, Smith and Kippax 179). Despite the prevalence of teenage sexual activity, there is still wide support for abstinence only sex education programs, which teach that marriage is the only context within which it is appropriate and acceptable to have sex. These programs began in the late 1970s “as a way for conservative Christians to counter the spread of ‘comprehensive’ sex education” and have since come to receive federal funding, first from the Adolescent Family Life Act in 1981 and later from Title V, Section 510 of the Social Security Act (Greslé-Favier

In Islam, women are held to higher standards than that of a man; more is expected of them in the social aspect of their society. At certain milestones in a woman’s life, they take on more responsibilities as well maintaining the standards they’re already expected to have. It is their responsibility, as married women, to take care of the house and kids— a typical “woman’s job”, something seen in all three primitive religions. Before even getting that far, the expectations of a bride consists of not engaging in promiscuous behavior and that they are virgin brides (again, another commonality among the three primitive religions). In the story “The Answer Is No”, the young protagonist is raped by a man significantly older than her; in fact, he plays the role of a second father in her life. As justification for that traumatic experience, he promises to marry her when the time comes. Seeing that she’s an unmarried girl who has had sex before, even though it

Sex is not a dirty word as some may define it, but a pleasurable experience. Women must learn to embrace their sexuality and enjoy it. They should embark on a journey by touching themselves to find out what is pleasurable, and then teach their partners how they want to be touched. A person’s religion or spirituality plays an important part on how they view sex. Abstinence before marriage is the religion world view on sex. Sex outside of marriage is labeled as sin, and called fornication according

The conversation on sexual education has been present in the United States for over a century. At the dawn of the 20th century, sexuality education existed, and was even supported by divisions of the government. In 1960, organizations like the John Birch Society and Mothers Organized for Moral Stability rose in opposition of sex education programs as a reaction to the FDA approving the use of oral contraceptives. Similarly in the 1970’s, Congress approved measures to help fund more sexual education programs, research, and family planning services. This effort was met with twenty states voting to restrict education or even eliminate sex education altogether. And finally in 1996, as a concession to the opposition, Congress approved $250 million in funding for abstinence-only

Women are constantly being judged for something that doesn’t physically exist, but is a social construct created by our society: virginity. Virginity has been important to individuals for a long time, and men have always defined its values to women. The purity myth is the idea that being chaste is more than just abstaining from sex, but rather portraying womanhood as being passive and pure. The Madonna/Whore binary is derived from Freud’s psychoanalytic theory that turns men’s sexual desires into an object that can be controlled. (Prizing virginity has become a way of regulating and policing woman’s bodies). This is related, yet contradictory to the purity myth. In today’s society we value and admire individuals that pledge to remain chaste,

The society already depicts the right and wrong behaviors in which men and women should adhere to, thus this already constructed norms and values maps the right and wrongful practices of sexuality in different communities. The gender norms already prescribe the expectations of sexuality in the society. For example, female genital mutilation is a rite of passage that detects every girl should undergo so that they can be termed as a woman and hence eligible for marriage in the society. The circumcision practice is a gender belief or norm that is only aligned to womanhood, but it affects the sexuality of these women. Other gender practices such as early or polygamous marriages have been the cause of what is termed as unsafe sexuality in the society. It should be noted that gender and sexuality significantly affect the basis of any society. These gender norms have led to increasing in disease transmission and illiterate

(Barnett, 2017, 102) To summarize this, some people may feel pressured that their first time will impact the rest of their life. That same researcher focused on gender with virginity in a different article they conducted and indicated that “gender differences play a meaningful role in understanding sexual definitions”. (Barnett, 2017, 204) This article helped me to elaborate on my research question, and the subject of gender influence will be my main focus as I perform interview questions.

Virginity is looked upon as an honor to a woman's husband or her father. It is dishonorable to lose one's virginity before marriage because a mother is portrayed as an honorable and respectful figure. If her virginity is lost before marriage or adultery is committed, the society's respect toward the mother is lost.