What is virginity worth today?

I just ran across this CNN article about the societal conceptions of virginity: "What is the price of virginity today?". The article title caught my eye because, since having taken Introduction to Feminist Studies last quarter, I've found myself paying more attention toward indicators of how society can value (or rather devalue) women. The ramifications of how people are differentially treated based on gender has ramifications not only on human rights but also on health.

Because HIV is a sexually-transmitted disease, how we view sexuality plays a huge role in prevention and treatment. I can't begin to count the number of research articles and anecdotal stories out there about women who want to use condoms but feel that they must be submissive to their male partner's wishes, or of men who rape young girls because they believe it'll cure them of their HIV infection, or of people who are afraid to come forward about being HIV positive because it is considered a "dirty" disease by their friends and family.

Part of the problem is the unhealthy way that many cultures around the world view sex. For some, it's a commodity that is bought or won (as the article examines). Traditionally, the big focus has been on virginity: girls must guard it to be "good women" and boys must lose it to be "real men." Martha Kempner, vice president for information and communications for the nonprofit Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S., points out the consequences of focusing so heavily on virginity, which is just one aspect of one's sexuality:

"...telling a young woman to stay "pure" misses the point that sexuality will influence her long after she loses her virginity.

'By putting the emphasis there, [on virginity], we're actually devaluing the rest of women, the rest of her, and the rest of her sexuality for the rest of her life,' she said."

Today, this values are losing hold and there is less stigma for both women and men to engage in premarital sex. That doesn't mean that everything is dandy though. For many people, there may even be more confusion. A young girl living in America today gets so many conflicting messages about sex: her parents and teachers tell her premarital sex is a sin and dangerous, but her boyfriend is pressuring her, her friends don't make a big deal out of having sex, and the characters in her favourite teen dramas have exciting and guilt-free sex lives. What to do?

The solution to making sure that people have health attitudes and practices regarding sex isn't by sticking to an abstinence only policy, nor is it to tell people that sex has zero consequences. Both of these approaches withhold vital information about how to protect one's health. People who experience such approaches to sex education have been shown to be less likely to use protection during sex. This is why so many community health officials and HIV/AIDS activists advocate for comprehensive sex education. More information helps people make more informed choices. This is only part of the solution--as touched upon earlier and in the CNN article, there are larger, culturally-ingrained attitudes toward gender and sexuality that need serious overhaul--but a change towards how we teach sex education to our youth will at least give them the skills to negotiate their own decisions.

Also, on a related-but-not-the-same diatribe, I also want to comment quickly on another quote from the article that caught my eye: "Attitudes shifted toward the conservative side in the 1980s with the worldwide HIV/AIDS pandemic, which made the stakes much higher for choosing a sex partner, especially for men." I think that this comment, although meant to be a simple factual statement, reveals one of two common misconceptions about the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. If "men had be more careful about sex" was a reference to how gay men are affected by the epidemic, this is true. However, only in the U.S. is the major route of HIV transmission through homosexual sex; in most other countries the primary route of transmission is through intravenous drug use or heterosexual sex. Given that heterosexual sex is the major cause of infection on a global level, it is incorrect that men have to be "more" careful about their partners. If anything, it's women who must be more worried, because women are more likely to get infected by HIV from a sexual encounter, due to both biological and cultural reasons.

Sorry if this post is overly opinionated or not very coherent--I'm running off to Snow Trip in a few minutes but just had to jot down some of my thoughts after seeing this article. I'm off to pack now though. Have a good weekend!

--Amy

*However, HIV can also be transmitted through non-sexual contact, namely unclean needles, blood transfer, and mother to child.