Virgin

{{sex}}

{{Cquote| It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue.|20px|20px|[[Voltaire]]}}

A '''virgin''' is someone who's never had [[sex]].

Many traditional [[culture]]s view female virginity as a positive, as it is fancifully perceived as some kind of "magical and pure" state. However, it usually represents a very [[Misogyny|chauvinistic]] and self-centered attitude. Cultural attitudes on male virginity are more mixed, with some cultures, particularly those Abrahamic cultures obsessed with "avoiding lust", having somewhat similar attitudes on male virginity  as female virginity, although more muted, and others considering male virginity to be shameful, due to toxic masculinity.

==Historical perception as a holy thing==
Historically, some cultures have perceived virginity as a holy thing and a largely desirable trait in a woman, like paying the father of a woman with the understanding she is a virgin. The [[Bible]] also seems to value virginity in a wife over the life of the woman, as women could be stoned to death for not being virgins, even if they got raped. [[Islam]]ic culture in particular makes mention of having [[Houri|72 virgins]] in [[Afterlife|paradise]] after the person has [[martyr]]ed themselves. This translation is, of course, debated by many Islamic apologists.

==Biblical use==
In the Bible, [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary the mother of Jesus]] is called a virgin, specifically ''parthenos'' (sexually pure woman) in the original [[Greek]] of the New Testament. The birth of Jesus is claimed to have been a [[virgin birth]].

Further, this virgin birth is claimed to fulfill an Old Testament prophecy from Isaiah. However, Isaiah wrote in [[Hebrew]], not Greek, and he used the Hebrew word actually meaning "young woman". ''Bethulah'' means "woman who has not had sex" (''c.f.'' {{bible|Isaiah|62|5}}); ''almah'', the word used in {{bible|Isaiah|7|14}}, means just "young woman" and only sometimes "sexually pure woman," the correct meaning to be ascertained from context.<ref>[http://www.2think.org/hii/virgin.shtml Virgin]. Archived thread from alt.atheism.moderated on [[Usenet]].</ref><ref name="BTC3">Michael Paulkovich and Robert M. Price, ''Beyond the Crusades''. American Atheist Press, 2016. {{isbn|978-1-57884-037-3}}.</ref>{{rp|34-35}} Dictionaries were not invented until the 18th Century [[CE]], and before that, words did not always have precise definitions. 

The Jews of the first century CE typically read their scriptures in the Greek translation, known as the [[Septuagint]]. And the Septuagint translated ''almah'' as ''parthenos'', making it seem that Isaiah was talking about a virgin birth rather than just a young woman giving birth. Moreover, Isaiah in the Hebrew [[Tanakh]] employed present participle, not future tense; the Greek translators changed it to future in the Septuagint. This was the inspiration for the [[gospel]] [[myth]] of the virgin birth. Thus, the [[Gospel of Matthew]] attempts to justify the divinity of [[Jesus]] with a [[prophecy]] that was never actually made.

==Virgin-shaming==
Virginity in men (and [[Asexuality|asexual]] people) is often shamed as a sign of being an undesirable loser, as if getting laid is some measure of worth. An [[argumentum ad cellarium]] fallaciously dismisses a man's arguments by saying he's a basement-dwelling virgin. Insulting people on their virginity, or their inability or unwillingness to get laid, can be discriminatory for [[Asexuality|asexuals]], those that are sterile, and those that otherwise cannot have sex due to external circumstances (social awkwardness, mental health problems, and simply either being unable to find an appropriate partner or not wanting to find one for whatever reasons).

==See also==
*[[Honor killings|"Honor" killings]]
*[[Virgin birth]]
*[[Virgin cleansing myth]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Purity culture]]
[[Category:Moral absolutism]]
[[Category:Sexism]]
[[Category:Woo]]

Categories: Purity culture, Moral absolutism, Sexism, Woo