Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof, vary. Heterosexual individuals may or may not consider loss of virginity to occur only through penile–vaginal penetration, while people of other sexual orientations often include oral sex, anal sex, or manual sex in their definitions of virginity loss. The term "virgin" encompasses a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern, and ethical concepts. Religious rituals for regaining virginity exist in many cultures. Some men and women who practice celibacy after losing their virginity consider themselves born-again virgins. There are cultural and religious traditions that place special value and significance on this state, predominantly towards unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honour, and worth. Like chastity, the concept of virginity has traditionally involved sexual abstinence. The concept of virginity usually involves moral or religious issues and can have consequences in terms of social status and in interpersonal relationships. Although virginity has social implications and had significant legal implications in some societies in the past, it has no legal consequences in most modern societies. The social implications of virginity persist in many societies and can have varying effects on an individual's social agency.
Etymology The word virgin comes via Old French virgine from the root form of Latin virgo, genitive virginis, meaning literally "maiden" or "virgin" The words virgino ("female virgin") and virgulo (literally "virgin person" but often used for a male virgin) are hyponyms. The Latin word likely arose by analogy with a suit of lexemes based on vireo, meaning "to be green, fresh or flourishing", mostly with botanic reference—in particular, virga meaning "strip of wood". The first known use of virgin in English is found in a Middle English manuscript held at Trinity College, Cambridge of about 1200:
Ðar haueð ... martirs, and confessors, and uirgines maked faier bode inne to women. In this, and many later contexts, the reference is specifically Christian, alluding to members of the Ordo Virginum (Order of Virgins), which applies to the consecrated virgins known to have existed since the early church from the writings of the Church Fathers. By about 1300, the word was expanded to apply also to Mary, the mother of Jesus, hence to sexual virginity explicitly:
Conceiud o þe hali gast, born o þe virgine marie. Further expansion of the word to include virtuous (or naïve) young women, irrespective of religious connection, occurred over about another century, until by about 1400 it was found:
Voide & vacand of vices as virgyns it ware. In modern English, virgin is not restricted to youth or females; older women can be virgins (the Virgin Queen), men can be virgins, and potential initiates into many fields can be colloquially termed virgins—for example, a skydiving "virgin". In the latter usage, virgin means uninitiated, as in the much older virgin knight. "Virgin" is also used as an adjective in terms like virgin field.
Culture
Concept
The concept of virginity has significance only in a particular social, cultural or moral context. According to Hanne Blank, "virginity reflects no known biological imperative and grants no demonstrable evolutionary advantage." Medieval bestiaries stated that the only way to capture or tame a unicorn was by way of using a virgin as a lure, due to her implied purity. The topic is popular in Renaissance paintings. Although virginity has historically been correlated with purity and worth, many feminist scholars believe that virginity itself is a myth. They argue that no standardized medical definition of virginity exists, that there is no scientifically verifiable proof of virginity loss, and that sexual intercourse results in no change in personality. Jessica Valenti, feminist writer and author of The Purity Myth, reasons that the concept of virginity is also dubious because of the many individual definitions of virginity loss, and that valuing virginity has placed a woman's morality "between her legs." She critiques the notion that sexual activity has any influence on morality or ethics. The urge of wanting one's spouse or partner to have never engaged in sexual activities is called a virgin complex. A person may also have a virgin complex directed towards oneself.
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