An obsession with virginity

Call it the effect of culture that we are brought up in or the consistent influences of society, most of us are fascinated by the concept of virginity. When it comes to the gender discrimination, this virgin thing also plays its part. All boys do expect the girls that they’re gonna marry to be virgins even those who are not virgins themselves. So, there is a tinge of hypocrisy in this as well. Double standards exist here as everywhere else. 

I’ve often wondered why there is so much importance of virginity. I try to be neutral in the analysis even though I am severely inclined towards one side. The spouse with whom we are set to begin our lives should be new in every sense to begin new life. Perhaps that’s where the idea of virginity is springing from. Is it wrong to expect our future spouse to be virgin? Or is this virginity linked only with the bodily acts or is it beyond it as well? Does the corruption of the mind tantamount to the loss of virginity? These questions I’ve always been unable to answer. 

If we just peep into the other side, things might look different. In the world, especially in our country, in the name of freedom, people are indulging in brainless imitations. There is a feeling that whatever actions that people do, if they have got the approval from the west, then there will be no problem about them. The people who have strongest words of criticism for the superstitions that exist in culture are the same ones who are indulging in brainless imitations of the west. Imitation without a proper basis is also a kind of superstition. For example, now the vogue in our country is live-in relationship. Needless to say, that’s an import from the west. The west can be a model in the field of science and technology but never in relationships. It has demonstrated its failure emphatically. But still, people want to follow it. 

So, the perception about virginity has definitely changed over years. There are both pros and cons in it. The perception differs from person to person. But there are arguments like ‘If I am a virgin, what’s wrong in expecting the girl marrying me to be virgin?’ Though I endorse the argument and risk being called a sexist, there can’t a unanimous opinion about a highly subjective topic like this.