Virginity

Hymen (or hymen ) is a fold of the mucous membrane with an opening that covers the entrance to the vagina between the internal and external genital organs and usually collapses during the first sexual intercourse .

Hymenes vary in thickness, shape and elasticity. The presence of an intact hymen is often seen as physical evidence of virginity in the narrow sense. Lack of such, however, does not necessarily mean experience of sexual contact, since hymen may be absent at birth (or be damaged for reasons not related to sex - for example, as a result of trauma during exercise). Also, the presence of a hymen cannot indicate the absence of sexual experience, since a hymen can be fully or partially preserved during penetrative sexual contact. A number of anatomically virgin women (up to 8%) practice non-penetrating or non-genital types of sex: oral, anal, etc., therefore, can not be considered virgins in the broad sense. In rare cases, the hymen completely closes the entrance to the vagina and menstrual blood has no way out. In this case, urgent surgical intervention is required to clear the path for the exit of menstrual blood.

In many traditional cultures, the preservation of virginity (that is, the integrity of the hymen ) before marriage was considered necessary. Female virginity in some cultures is closely intertwined with personal or even family honor .

In some cultures (such as Bantu in South Africa), virginity testing is a custom. This usually means a virginity test by an older woman. A similar test performed by a nun in relation to the main character is one of the key scenes of the Luc Besson feature film about Joan of Arc .

Some elements of modern (especially Western) culture no longer regard premarital virginity as a virtue and may allude to it scornfully. An increasingly frequent opinion among young people that virginity is not a virtue has led to multiple debates, especially relating to the sexuality of youth.

The philosopher Bertrand Russell, in his book “ Why Am I Not a Christian ”, argued that avoiding sexual intercourse is naive and stupid, and that in the long run this leads to much more unhappiness than if sexual activity is present. This is based on the idea that one who is deaf to sexual desire and satisfaction cannot distinguish a strong passion from what is called a feeling of intimacy, and therefore can make an unsuccessful choice of a partner based on an error - a mistake that a person who knows this difference would not have made .

Mythology

In ancient Greek mythology and a number of religions, virginity is considered a sign of special spiritual purity, chastity. The Virgin ( Greek παρθένος ) is one of the epithets of the goddess Athena , hence the name of the temple in her honor - the Parthenon .

Virginity was often seen as virtuous purity and physical self-control and was an important quality of some mythical characters, such as the ancient Greek goddesses Athena , Artemis and Hestia . The vestals were the strictly abstaining priestesses of the goddess Vesta .

Christianity

Christianity has a firm precept that sexual relations are blessed only in marriage, between husband and wife. Sexual contact outside of marriage is considered a serious sin of fornication , and in the case of adultery, adultery .

According to Christian doctrine, a husband and wife in marriage “become one flesh”, and also bear mutual responsibility for the preservation of the marriage, because according to Jesus Christ:

Any intimate relationship before the marriage is also prohibited by the Holy Scriptures as a sin of fornication, violators are excommunicated.

Islam

Islam strictly prescribes that sexual relations can take place only in marriage.

Quotes like “And don't get close to adultery” ( Qur'an , Surah Al-Isra , 17:32) will bequeath it. However, sexual relations between spouses are by no means regarded as unclean or undesirable.

Judaism

Mention of virginity appears in Genesis , a stanza about the meeting of Elizar with Rebekah: “the girl was a beautiful sight, a virgin whom the husband did not know” ( Genesis 24:16 ). The high priest is instructed to marry a girl, but not a woman ( Lev. 21: 7 ; Lev. 21: 13-14 ). If a man seduced or raped an uneducated girl, he was obliged to marry her and live with her without the right to divorce ( Exodus 22: 16-17 , Deut. 22: 28-29 ), if only she consented to it.

The Torah ( Deut. 23: 17-18 ) prohibits any sexual relationship outside of marriage. Contrary to popular misconception, in Judaism there has never been a death penalty for premarital sex (with the exception of incest). However, at different times other penalties were applied, such as lashes.

Judaism draws on sexual relations within the framework of marital relations from the Torah: “be fruitful and multiply ...” ( Genesis 1:28 ). Sexual intercourse in marriage is expressly prescribed by the Torah and Talmud and is limited only by ritual purity laws (see Nida ).

The loss of virginity, as the first sexual experience, is usually regarded as an important life event. The loss of virginity can be seen as a milestone depending on cultural or personal perceptions. Historically, this perception has been heavily influenced by gender roles . For example, for a man, first sexual contact was more often associated with pride , and for a woman , more often with shame . However, in recent years, the influence of traditional or religious gender roles has weakened.

In the history of mankind, ritual defloration rites are known - the ritual deprivation of virginity as a sacrifice and the right of the first night .

The medical term "defloration" means the loss of virginity by a virgin girl .

Modern plastic surgery offers methods of the reverse process of restoration of the hymen ( hymenoplasty ) - reflux .

One of the varieties of prostitution is the sale of virginity at an online auction , scandalous cases of which periodically appear in the Western media.

According to G. B. Deryagin, the ability to have sexual intercourse appears in girls aged 10–13 years, and the most favorable from the morphofunctional point of view for the loss of virginity is the age of 15–19 years, which is associated with the beginning degeneration of hymen tissue at the age of 20–22 years, due to which later defloration can be complicated ^{[1] [2]} .

According to data obtained by researchers at the University of Columbia, among people of both sexes who have lost their virginity at the age of 21–23, there is a greater proportion of people experiencing problems in subsequent sexual relations. Moreover, according to the authors of the study, there is no sufficient reason to argue that the late onset of sexual relations is the cause of further problems, and it is likely that people who already have sexual problems are prone to abstinence. ^[3] .

Deryagin's theory of the phenomenon of “late virginity” in women

According to G. B. Deryagin, the personality of women who retain their virginity at the age of 22 years and older has certain characteristics. In particular, two-thirds of them are characterized by a Puritan worldview: a negative attitude to premarital and extramarital sex , pornography , nudism ; often enough they do not drink alcohol and do not smoke ^[4] .

Late virginity is not necessarily related to asexuality . Only a tenth of the virgins do not have sexual needs; in the rest they appear in some form, about half of the virgins experienced sensations associated with orgasm , including during masturbation ^[4] . 8% of virgins are only purely anatomical , since they practice various kinds of sexual intercourse: oral , anal , and occasionally even bestial ^[5] .

Assessment of the psychological profile of virgins according to MMPI scales shows their differences from women related to the conditional sexual norm : virgins are more rigid (less able to change their outlook on life) and pessimistic , they have increased anxiety , and a high level of introversion contributes to the accumulation of negative experiences; Together, all of the above can be a prerequisite for the development of pathological changes in the psyche ^[6] . It is also interesting to note that the indicators of virgins on the MMPI scales are very close to those of persons with sexual deviations and diagnosed paraphilia ^[7] .

Among the causes of late virginity, in addition to Puritan upbringing, sexual violence in childhood and adolescence is called (15.5% of virgins in their biographies have attempted rape at the age of 16-19, and 9% were subjected to depraved acts at an earlier age) ^{[ 7]} .

In addition, the influence of conscious and unconscious homosexual drives, suppressed within the puritanical culture, is possible: 18.5% of virgins have conscious homoerotic drives ^[5] .

In a figurative sense, the word "virginity" can mean "ignorance", "intactness", or "shyness" in the general sense, that is, not necessarily related to sexual relations. So, in Dan Brown ’s novel “ The Da Vinci Code ”, a character named Lew Teabing calls the “Grail Virgin” a heroine who does not have a complete picture of the complex of legends associated with the Holy Grail . In John DeChancie ’s Skyway novels, one of the heroines speaks of “pristine ears,” implying hostility to strong speech. Virgin forests, virgin lands, etc. - places where no human foot has stepped.

• Celibacy
• the Virgin Mary
• Parthenophilia
• Promiscuity
• Elizabeth I - known as the Queen Queen
• Virgin Islands (named after St. Ursula and 11,000 virgins)
• Ritual deprivation of virginity

• Deryagin G. B. Criminal sexology. Lecture course for law schools. - M. , 2008. - ISBN 978-5-93004-274-0 .
• Deryagin G. B., Sidorov P. I., Soloviev A. G. The phenomenon of late virginity // Social and clinical problems of sexology and sexopathology. - M., 2003 .-- S. 33-39.