cultures
To lose, to give, to share, to sacrifice, or to give it away? What does our virginity mean to us? Value, power, curse or a burden? How do the changes in our bodies relate to our biological self and our personality?
Different cultures give different answers to the questions above. These responses are formulated primarily in connection with female virginity, as changes in the female body, including virginity and its loss, can be seen and experienced. Bleeding and physical trans-formation with potential fertilization evoke an arsenal of different ideas and social reactions in all cultures. But what are the social meanings of the issue and the cultural significance of virginity in different cultures?
Fiona Bowie’s comprehensive study on The Anthropology of Religion reviews the relation-ship between virginity and other social aspects of different cultures. For example, in Arab societies and North Sudan, the loss of virginity brings a huge shame to a girl’s family.
Virginity is not part of the personal identity of girls, but of the whole family. The family decides whom she may marry, for marriage strengthens the family’s social, political, and economic positions, therefore, the girl cannot independently rule over her virginity. That is why the greatest insults in these cultures are the obscene remarks made about the sister’s lost virginity. We may recall the finals of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the referee sending off the Arabian-born French team member, Zinedine Zidane for headbutting the Italian mid-fielder Marco Materazzi in the chest. According to some rumors, the Italian defender made an unequivocal comment on his sexual act with Zidane’s sister. If this is true, Materazzi gave a very accurate anthropological knowledge, only not in the most sympathetic way.
On the other hand, if a girl is born in the United States or in Europe, her virginity will most likely belong to her own individual identity. In this case, the loss of virginity will be a central issue at high school age, as virginity can be classified as a failure in this social
environment. Loss of virginity is a sign that the girl is attractive and valuable for the oppo-site sex and hence for herself. Most of the adolescent girls’ goal in our culture therefore is to lose their virginity at the “right” time. This should preferably happen in a love relation-ship, not as a “one-night” adventure, for it is this way when ‘deflowering’ becomes valuable for her age group, for her friends and for herself.
In both above examples, the loss of virginity is associated with the biological consequence of the penetration of the hymen. There are cultures where the two are not at all interrelated.
For example, among the Ashanti in Ghana, women with an active a sexual life, and even those who already have children, are considered virgin. Women are called either “virgins”
or “mothers” in this culture. These names indicate status differences. To become “mother”
does not depend on a sexual act, but by going through FGM/C the ritual of female genital mutilation/cutting. (BOWIE 2006)
Clifford Bishop in his book, Sex and Spirituality: Ecstasy, Ritual and Taboo describes how blood in many cultures is considered an unclean and damaging, maledict matter. Therefore, in many communities of South and Central Asia, deflowering is a ritual act with the participation of a paid religious specialist. Without that no-one would marry the girls of a family in fear of some misfortune. Among the Central African Gbayas, virginity of young girls is taken by other women, for being also women they are not considered to be at risk. Travelogues from Tibet and New Guinea spoke about travelers receiving the gift of a virgin girl to spend the night with. In the light of what has been described above, these gifts have probably had other meanings than just expressing hospitality... (BISHOP 1997)
Hans Biedermann’s Dictionary of Symbolism recounts that in certain religions and cultures virgins have sacred power. The myth of miraculous conceptions of boys become divinity and / or rulers, surrounded Perseus, Alexander the Great, Augustus or Genghis Khan.
The myths of ancient divine conceptions and virgin births were later interpreted by the theologians of early Christianity as the forerunner of the Annunciation and the birth of Jesus.
Think of the Vestal Virgins allowed to perform rituals that were forbidden to the colleges of male priests, or the Catholic nuns allowed to read the Gospel during the liturgy and deliver the sacraments. We may also mention Jean D’arc or Queen Elizabeth I, whose power in the world of men was recognized as being inseparable from virginity attributed to them.
However, the loss of virginity can also be a blessing and the source of sacred ritual power.
In ancient times, young girls in several Greek and Roman settlements sacrificed their virginity to the gods on the phallus of statues of gods or as a sacred prostitute in the temple of Aphrodite.
In tribal societies, loss of virginity and the sexual acts can have a positive magic effect.
For example, in the society of Naga of Assam, couples make love on the porch of the rice storerooms. The owners are happy to receive the couples, as love fulfilled on the porch of the rice storerooms believed to increase abundancy. (BIEDERMANN 1996)
Losing, giving, sharing, sacrificing or giving away? The diverse cultural readings of virginity and the loss of it may perhaps make our attitudes towards others’ and our own sexuality more reflexive and understanding.