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Virginity Pledges Don't Mean Much

LibertySugar — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:50:55 -0800

Virginity Pledges Don't Mean Much For years, there has been an ongoing battle between two opposing ways of schooling: sex education and abstinence-only education. A new study may help sex education win this war once and for all since research shows that encouraging teens to be abstinent until marriage is ineffective.

Italian Supermodel Offers Her Virginity For a Million: Why?

CitizenSugar — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:15:38 -0700

I guess hard times call for desperate measures? Italian supermodel and reality show star Raffella Fico, 20, is planning to sell her most precious of treasures — her virginity. How much does something like that fetch in the marketplace? One million euros. Rico told an Italian magazine of her plan, "I can't wait to see who's going to pull out the money to have me." Swearing she's never had sex before, she was unfazed by the idea of a less-than-attractive . . . patron. "If I don't like him I'll just have a glass of wine and forget about it," she said. Would that Rico was the first person to hatch such a scheme, but others have cashed in on their "charms" before. Last week an 18-year-old San Diego student offered her first time for a million bucks to fund her education, saying, "We live in a capitalist society. Why shouldn't I be allowed to capitalize on my virginity?" Similarly, in 2005 a Peruvian model considered selling her first time for $1.5 million to pay family medical bills before reconsidering. Whether a tougher economy, a new tough brand of feminism, or a more permissive culture, what's behind this selling of self?

Italian Supermodel Offers Her Virginity For a Million: Why?

Why not? It's her decision and if she can make a million more power to her.

This is a devastating effect of a tough economy. Maybe she has no other choice?

Our culture is entirely too permissive. Girls think stunts like this are cute. It's so sad.

Publicity. We're reading about her now, right? It's a stunt for attention.

Other. I'll tell you what I make of this in the comments.

Powersuit of Tradition: Sworn Virgins In Albania Are Dwindling

CitizenSugar — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:05:57 -0700

In Albania, gender equality has a literal meaning — and a less modern, more traditional translation that your 9 to 5 or Working Girl tropes. For centuries, sworn virginity has allowed woman to live as men, with all the responsibilities and rights that accompany the role in a conservative society.

In closed-off rural northern Albania, the practice of swapping genders was a practical solution motivated by social necessity, for a family with a shortage of men. One woman decided to make the change after her father was killed leaving no male heir. The custom she chose requires a vow of lifetime virginity — in exchange for living as a man with all the authority the gender commands — including the obligation to avenge her father’s death. Though she says she wouldn't necessarily do it now, then it was an easy decision:

Back then, it was better to be a man because before a woman and an animal were considered the same thing. Now, Albanian women have equal rights with men, and are even more powerful. I think today it would be fun to be a woman.

With sexual equality and modern trappings seeping into Albania (including MTV which popped in after the fall of the Berlin Wall) the tradition is fading. Not needing to make the vow to own property, move freely, or avoid an arranged marriage, now there are only about 40 sworn virgins remaining. The decision not only created equality in life, it created equality in worth. A woman is worth is half that of a man, but a virgin is worth the same as a man — 12 oxen.

The changes of modern times don't sit well with all the sworn virgins. To see why,

Annulment Based on Bride's Fake Virginity Outrages French

LibertySugar — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:00:51 -0700

A court's decision to annul a marriage because the bride lied about being a virgin has the French worried that their secular values are under siege by religious immigrants.

The case involved a Muslim couple. Under their strict religious tradition, a woman must prove virginity on her wedding night. The court ruled that since the couple was Muslim, virginity was a prerequisite to the marriage. Thus, her misrepresentation of the requirement made the marriage invalid.

Women's rights activists say that the ruling treats women as a defected good in a commercial transaction. In addition, France's champions of secularism, who have worked to resist the religious influence of some 5 million Muslims that help make up France's population of 64 million, are outraged.

Their interpretation of secularism often leans towards forced secularism. To see how,