(no subject)

[vladazhael.livejournal.com]

"The loss of virginity is seen as a form of initiation - a change in the fundamental nature of one's being - in even the most modern, secularized societies. In many religious codes it represents an irreversible fall from a state of perfection. The virgin is unspoiled, still full of potential and, crucially in the case of a girl, whole or unbroken... While the virginity of a boy is usually a matter of trust or hearsay, that of a girl is assumed to be demonstratable (although there are many ways in which a girl may accidentally lose her physical virginity, and there are techniques dating back to ancient egypt for faking vaginal haemorrhage). Because the demonstration involves the spilling of blood, itself a ritually significant act, it is usually only the viriginity - and defloration - of women that has been transformed into public rite and spectacle."

and thus arise today's ridiculous notions and double standards of purity and respectability for women, which imprison us even in our relative enlightenment. i'm not bitter that it used to be that way, but it pisses me off that we reject so many other primitive customs as "uncivilized" and still keep this crap around.
::feminist rage::