Editing Virginity (section)

{{Short description|State of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse}}
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{{redirect-multi|2|Virgin|Maiden}}
[[File:William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) -Youth (1893).jpg|thumb|''Youth'' by French painter [[William-Adolphe Bouguereau]]. White has traditionally been associated with ritual purity, innocence and virginity in Western cultures.]]

'''Virginity''' is the state of a person who has never engaged in [[sexual intercourse]];<ref name="Virginity">{{cite dictionary|title=Virginity|dictionary=[[Merriam-Webster]]|access-date=December 21, 2013|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/virginity|archive-date=November 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111233319/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/virginity|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Virginity2">{{cite web|title=Virginity|publisher=[[TheFreeDictionary.com]]|access-date=December 21, 2013|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Virgin|archive-date=February 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213145246/https://www.thefreedictionary.com/virgin|url-status=live}}</ref> it is considered a [[social construct]], not an objective term with an [[operational definition]].<ref name=paediatrician/> Social definitions of virginity therefore vary. [[Heterosexuality|Heterosexual]] individuals may or may not consider loss of virginity to occur only through penile-vaginal penetration,<ref name="Carpenter" /><ref name="Intimate" /><ref name="Friedman">{{Cite news|last=Friedman|first=Mindy|date=September 20, 2005|title=Sex on Tuesday: Virginity: A Fluid Issue|work=The Daily Californian|url=http://www.dailycal.org/article/19565/sex_on_tuesday_virginity_a_fluid_issue|access-date=October 6, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090506021934/http://www.dailycal.org/article/19565/sex_on_tuesday_virginity_a_fluid_issue|archive-date=2009-05-06}}</ref><ref name="McAnulty">{{Cite book|author1=Richard D. McAnulty|title=Making Healthy Decisions|author2=M. Michele Burnette|publisher=[[Allyn & Bacon]]|year=2000|isbn=978-0-205-19519-0|page=229}}</ref> while people of other [[sexual orientation]]s often include [[oral sex]], [[anal sex]], or [[Non-penetrative sex#Manual sex|manual sex]] in their definitions of losing one's virginity.<ref name="Carpenter" /><ref name="Blank" /><ref name="Virgin">{{cite book|last=Joseph Gross|first=Michael|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eWQEAAAAMBAJ&q=Gay+men+who+prefer+anal+sex&pg=PA44|title=Like a Virgin|work=[[The Advocate (LGBT magazine)|The Advocate]]|publisher=Here Publishing|year=2003|page=45|id=0001-8996|access-date=2011-03-13}}</ref> The term ''virgin'' encompasses a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern and ethical concepts.<ref name="Carpenter" /><ref name="consent">{{cite news|last=Carpenter|first=Laura M.|year=2001|title=The Ambiguity of "Having Sex": The Subjective Experience of Virginity Loss in the United States – Statistical Data Included|publisher=[[The Journal of Sex Research]]|location=United States|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-79439403.html|url-status=dead|access-date=June 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508050547/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-79439403.html|archive-date=May 8, 2013}}</ref><ref name="Intimate">{{Cite book|author1=Bryan Strong|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qjvoSOMB5JMC&pg=PA186|title=The Marriage and Family Experience: Intimate Relationship in a Changing Society|author2=Christine DeVault|author3=Theodore F. Cohen|publisher=[[Cengage Learning]]|year=2010|isbn=978-0-534-62425-5|page=186|quote=Most people agree that we maintain virginity as long as we refrain from sexual (vaginal) intercourse. But occasionally we hear people speak of 'technical virginity' [...] Data indicate that 'a very significant proportion of teens ha[ve] had experience with oral sex, even if they haven't had sexual intercourse, and may think of themselves as virgins' [...] Other research, especially research looking into virginity loss, reports that 35% of virgins, defined as people who have never engaged in vaginal intercourse, have nonetheless engaged in one or more other forms of heterosexual sexual activity (e.g., oral sex, anal sex, or mutual masturbation).|access-date=October 8, 2011|archive-date=July 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724205226/https://books.google.com/books?id=qjvoSOMB5JMC&pg=PA186|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Blank">{{Cite book|author=Hanne Blank|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V6IPvgFKGFUC&q=virginity+loss+among+lesbians&pg=PA253|title=Virgin: The Untouched History|publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] USA|year=2008|isbn=978-1-59691-011-9|pages=304 pages|access-date=October 8, 2011}}</ref> Religious rituals for regaining virginity exist in many cultures. Some men and women consider themselves [[born-again virgin]]s.

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, [[honor]], and worth. Like [[chastity]], the concept of virginity has traditionally involved [[sexual abstinence]]. The concept of virginity usually involves [[sexual morality|moral]] or religious issues and can have consequences in terms of social status and in [[interpersonal relationship]]s.<ref name="Carpenter">See here [https://books.google.com/books?id=6qNCeI2AcY4C&pg=PT11] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201151643/https://books.google.com/books?id=6qNCeI2AcY4C&pg=PT11&lpg=PT11|date=2016-12-01}} and [https://books.google.com/books?id=pXXZn_qSoDoC&pg=PA48 pages 47–49] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201074430/https://books.google.com/books?id=pXXZn_qSoDoC&pg=PA48|date=2016-12-01}} for views on what constitutes virginity loss and therefore sexual intercourse or other sexual activity; source discusses male virginity, how gay and lesbian individuals define virginity loss, and how the majority of researchers and heterosexuals define virginity loss/"technical virginity" by whether or not a person has engaged in penile-vaginal sex. {{Cite book |author=Laura M. Carpenter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pXXZn_qSoDoC |title=Virginity Lost: An Intimate Portrait of First Sexual Experiences |publisher=[[New York University|NYU Press]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8147-1652-6 |pages=295 pages |access-date=October 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428003620/https://books.google.com/books?id=pXXZn_qSoDoC |archive-date=April 28, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Bennett">{{Cite book|author=Linda Rae Bennett|title=Women, Islam and modernity: single women, sexuality and reproductive health in contemporary Indonesia|publisher=Psychology Press|year = 2005|access-date=October 9, 2011|pages=19–21|isbn=978-0-415-32929-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JaA1kxjMebEC&pg=PA19}}</ref> Although virginity has social implications and had significant legal implications in some societies in the past, it has no legal consequences in most societies today. The social implications of virginity still remain in many societies and can have varying effects on an individual's social agency.