Virginity and Celibacy in 2008: is it the "last taboo"?

The Guardian had an article yesterday which spoke of the virgin and celibate women of today called Is Virginity the last Taboo? While some of the women interviewed had never had sex and some had, the one thing they all had in common was that they were Christians. I respect that some of these women remain sexless because they feel better about them self without sex, and as one women puts it: "'I have stayed chaste for four years and I did it as a little I experiment with myself. I wanted to see what would happen and what happened was that I became much more confident because I stopped relying on someone else to give me that physical reassurance."

However, I can't help but think that if these women had proper sex education classes (not abstinence only!), were given more positive, realistic impressions of what relationships and life are like when you have a healthy, safe sex life - would they still feel the way Ana does? Ana explains that, "I've got a lot of friends who are quite messed up by the whole sex issue and I think by waiting to have it in the safe context of marriage, you can avoid a lot of that hurt and pain. I don't think my life is any less fulfilled." I respect these women's choices and that they feel they're making the best choice - but I can't help but worry that their high expectations of marriage and sex after marriage will leave them feeling terribly disappointed.

Comments