Record Details

Enlightenment and virginity

Inkanyiso

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Enlightenment and virginity
 
Creator Addison, Catherine
 
Subject — feminism; virginity; enlightenment; cultural practices
Description This paper attempts to demystify the vexed question of female virginity using the light of reason and a sceptical, feminist viewpoint. Starting with a historical and cultural survey of beliefs about virginity, it goes on to ask the ontological question What is virginity? In the process of answering this question, it examines biological, historical, psychosexual and cultural evidence to reach the con clusion that virginity does not really exist, since it cannot – at least, in the contemporary world – be defined or measured. Virginity is still idealised in many communities because male hegemony persists; a belief in the importance of virginity is a measure of social control of women. Fortunately for many women, however, it has always been and still is possible to fake virginity, in the twenty-first century as in all previous ages.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor —
Date 2010-12-30
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format application/pdf
Identifier 10.4314/ijhss.v2i2.63478
 
Source Inkanyiso; Vol 2, No 2 (2010); 7 2077-8317 2077-2815
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://inkanyisojournal.org/index.php/ink/article/view/290/396
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2025 Catherine Addison https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ADVERTISEMENT