'Born-Again Virginity' in the Age of Girls Gone Wild (AlterNet)

[marmar]

'Born-Again Virginity' in the Age of Girls Gone Wild

By Amy DePaul, AlterNet. Posted March 20, 2007.



Born-again virginity has been debunked by research, but serious proponents of it -- from mature single women to evangelicals -- continue embrace the chastity pledge, for strikingly different reasons.

Oh Ashley... it's been three weeks, am I a virgin again? Ramona

Born-again virgins, usually young people with a sexual past pledging to start fresh and commit to abstinence, take endless abuse on MySpace. Here, in Web pages filled with youthful accounts of hook-ups, parties and daily minutiae, writers muse over what constitutes born-again virginity, tongue planted firmly in cheek. Is it a year without sex, or as Ramona (above) might suggest, something more short term?

"I used to have a roommate who was a 'born-again virgin'," one Myspace user asserts in a typical posting, " -- what a crock of shit that was." Popular depictions of born-again virgins do little to add credibility. For example, Luanne from the animated sitcom "King of the Hill" vowed in a church ceremony never again to have premarital sex. A later episode depicted her pregnant, however.

Further reinforcing doubts are provocative musical treatments like singer Noa Tylo's 2001 album, "Born Again Virgin," which one reviewer called "a dark and broody dance-music exploration of sexual intensity." Hardly monastic!

Meanwhile, singer-songwriter Cindy Alexander's song "Born Again Virgin" begins, "Hey it's nice to meet you/I'm a born-again virgin" and later proposes, none too coyly, that "maybe we could touch." (Blame it on Madonna's 1984 hit, "Like a Virgin.")

Rooted in Evangelical dogma, born-again virginity has become easy to mock. But, for a large number of teens, abstinence supporters -- and, surprisingly, a cadre of mature single women - born-again virginity is no laughing matter. What, then, is the appeal of born-again virginity, and does it work? .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/sex/49318/

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. It has been a common theme in science fiction in the last few years

Where female sex workers will have their hymen surgically "reconstructed" in order to sell themselves for a premium to johns looking to deflower a "virgin."

Sorry, but that is the image that comes to mind when I hear the phrase "born again virgin." :rofl:

[Kagemusha]

2. Really? That common?

I mean, the thought's vaguely occured to me of such a thing as a possibility but... uh, that sounds a lot more common than I ever had in mind. But I haven't read a lot of science fiction in recent years.

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. Common enough

"Born again virgin" sex workers seems to be cropping up in a lot of the science fiction I've been reading recently. Then again, I've been reading more cyberpunk than usual, so maybe it has been around longer for a while and I've never noticed before, or it is a sub-genre thing.

[Kagemusha]

7. I don't doubt you. I'd expect things like this to crop up in cyberpunk

It'd be hard for such writers to ignore religious fanatacism and the prospect of it surviving quite well through dystopia or whatever. Or being the root cause of such.

[Donnachaidh]

6. IIRC a bit of *theatrical* re-virgining has been done in brotherls throughout history

I seem to recall reading somewhere that chicken blood has been utilized in brothels historically to dupe a John into thinking he has de-flowered someone. Roman times or more recent. It's been awhile since I read it, but it has been done.

[Wilber_Stool]

8. From my reading,

it was done in the bedroom with animal blood and chicken entrails. That little spot on the bed sheets meant that the marriage would not have to be annulled.

[shain from kane]

3. And no horseback riding.

[yellowcanine]

4. All one needs to do is redifine the meaning of "sex" and it is quite easy to maintain one's

"born again" virginity or even the plain old virginity. "Sex" is penetration of a vagina with a penis. Anything short of that is something else. Case closed.:sarcasm: