The Myth of Purity: Virginity as a Metric of Ethics and Morality

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Paper Proposal: The Myth of Purity
Our society is quite intriguing when it comes to virginity. Virginity more often pops up in as a metric of ethics and morality. It is a contestable social construct. This paper will be exploring the extent to which the concept of virginity can be considered as a myth.
Many feminists have been asking many questions regarding the issue of virginity. Is purity a way of manipulating and controlling young girls to follow specific gender norms? Is it part of sexism? There is the commodification of sexuality in women, which denotes that sexual experience in women results in loss of value. Why do women need to negotiate for sexual purity as a yardstick for determining their morality? Surprisingly, why are men shamed for remaining as virgins? Why is it being used to hurt men and to praise women? In men, loss of virginity is an embodiment of masculinity; it is quite irrational to consider intimate experience as a rite of passage.
Virginity is narrowly understood, where it is considered exclusively as heteronormative experience. It focuses on penetrative sexual experiences between a female and a male while invalidating other forms of sexual encounters and sexualities. Do other forms of sexual encounters, except for penetrative sex between a female and a male, amongst the young population, e.g., lesbianism and homosexuality, constitute loss of virginity? The proponents of virginity are quite silent on other forms of sexual encounters because they concentrate only on heterosexuality (Valenti, pp.357).
The overemphasis on virginity is quite detrimental. It creates guilt and shame about sex in girls while it can make boys feel that they are not ‘man enough’. The issue of virginity constricts the freedom to make a sexual choice among the young population. It appears that the topic of purity is a continuity of patriarchal hegemonic societies where the belief system is used to restrict the freedom of others, especially women.
Virginity is traded for ‘goodness,’ and this could mean that one may no longer be considered ‘good’ after losing virginity (Valenti, pp.357). Naber (pp.87-111) adds voice to Valenti argument by saying the virginity has been racialized and branded as a representative of w...