Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Born Again Virgins...

There's an article on Alternet about the phenomenon of Born-Again Virgins. Which is all very well and I find the subject kindof amusing until we get to the bit where the author, Amy DePaul says:

"There is a strong argument to be made on behalf of women -- Christian or not -- taking control of their bodies and making choices that are right for them."

Why does having sex mean you're not in control of your own body? The implication is that women who have sex are doing so because men want them to. Maybe some women actually like sex.

More importantly the whole article is about women's virginity, no mention is made of whether men should try the whole not-having-sex thing. No it's women for whom virginity is an issue - of course!

5 comments:

Stan said...

Thanks for pointing out this example of Fundie Brain Bypass, which had quite passed me by.

Personally I would respect a person who admits their mistakes and moves on with a genuine desire to err no more.

But airbrushing the past from history isn't doing anyone any favours.

And anyway, the first time is always rubbish - you're too panicked to enjoy the experience properly. Who'd want to go through that more than once ...

Cruella said...

Yeah I mean if someone decides that they want to live celibately for a period of time - perhaps because they are trying to deal with emotional issues, or even because they want to focus on other things in their life - then fair enough. But to insist on "being a virgin again" plays into that whole medieval culture of virginity being somehow sacred...

Stan said...

A very good point. Never saw virginity as sacred, but then I never saw anything as sacred, probably because I'm a godless pinko heathen.

"First kiss" is also sentimentalised - funny how "first mutual masturbation" doesn't get the same attention. Maybe Hallmark are missing out on a new range of greetings cards here ...

Cruella said...

Well I grew up an atheist (well my parents were atheists but sent me to church I think because they thought I was immoral, or at best because it got me out from under their feet. Still by 14 or 15 I was atheist yet there was still this huge hoo-haa about who you would lose it to and in what circumstances. Almost as if the second time you did it was trivial because of course by then you were an old slag rather than a young virgin... weird.

My Mum told me when she was at school by way of sex education they took the girls to a seperate room and handed round a rose and then pointed out how it lost it's beauty being passed about from person to person - like girls did. The ludicrousness of this works on so many levels.

Stan said...

The rose skit is a classic - jewels like that make the ludicrous amount if time I spend reading blogs worthwhile.

I have an 11-year old daughter, and a fervently Christian wife. Next few years are going to be interesting. Any advice on the issue gratefully received.