(no subject)

[ivyfic]

I am currently reading Virgin: The Untouched History, which is far less titillating than you'd think, and contains way more information about genitalia than you probably ever wanted to know. Mostly, though, you can't talk about virginity without talking about why it has been historically so prized—as a means to control women's sexuality and take away their choice as to when and how they have sex. It reminds me why there were feminists in the first place. Lest it seem that only women have been subjected to ludicrous tests of their virginity (her nipples point down! she must be a ho!), here's a little tidbit for you:

In medieval times, some people believed that if a boy's voice cracked before he was seventeen, that was proof that he'd had homosexual encounters. So how bout it guys—when did your voice crack?

Comments

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

My voice started changing in 7th grade, so I'd have been 12 or 13 at the time. Of course, I enjoy cooking, knitting, and musical theater; therefore it should already be common knowledge that I'm the gayest gaylord who ever gayed.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

Plus, you're hirsute, and you know what that means.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I found Sex in History by Reay Tannahill most interesting on the subjects of taboos and thinking about sex and how they evolved.

Mostly, I liked how she got the evo-psych about it correct (as opposed to every other evo-psych bullshit that is only ever brought up to prove prevailing norms are the correct ones according to "biology".) It's less that men controlled women's sexuality at first than it is they sought to control their reproductive ability. Like any other species, males had to compete to pass on their genes. As soon as consciousness evolved to a point where they could recognize that copulating and pregnancy were related, there was an interest for each male in being sure a given female only had sex with him. Physical intimidation of both females and rivals became a necessary part of that. As man evolved further in terms of conscious ability to reason, the cage around the female became internalized. And voila, misogyny. Really cool, entirely plausible biological explanation.

I find such truisms as the one you mentioned hilarious. It certainly would take the mystery out of a show like "Gay, Straight or Taken" if it were that easy to determine who was what.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

This one has no evo-psych (I can't stand that stuff--even when it sounds reasonable, it's still unprovable), it's just looking at the social and historical views on virginity. I just finished the chapter on virginity tests, and all of these things are riiidiculous, though no less serious for the women involved. Virgins' breasts don't sag? Virgins have thin necks? If you waft garlic under a virgin's skirts her breath will not smell of garlic? Virgin piss is always clear?

The (male) author points out that there are a couple of things all these tests have in common. 1 - They have nothing to do with an individual woman's body and everything to do with whether that body conforms to preconcieved norms. 2 - The only actual way to tell if a woman's a virgin (asking her) is the one way that is never allowed. 3 - Though the woman can't speak for herself, the first man who has sex with her is listened to when he evaluates the experience.

It's this bizarre thing where because the patriarchy places artificial importance on virginity it makes the stakes really high for women to be percieved as virgins. And because of that, women can't be trusted to tell the truth. Just by valuing virginity, the consequence is the belief that all women are liars. As I said, makes me get back in touch with my feminist leanings.

The remarkable thing is--there is no physical proof of virginity. Period. Still isn't, despite what SVU would have you believe. The fact is that looking at any particular woman's genitals still won't tell you if she's had sex.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

There's also a confusion of virginity and experience that anything short of listening to the woman in question won't clear up. Technical virgins, et al. really screw the line as far sexuality and yes/no sex are concerned.

Of course standards of female virginity are unprovable. The vagina is a scary void from which nothing escapes. The only way to know what's been in it (or not) is to guard it from being penetrated in the first place. Only if you, the man not possessing the vagina, know it's clean is it clean. It's a paranoia that feeds itself--the reward is the process (watching to keep it virgin is the only way to keep it virgin).