Virginity

Virginity is a social and personal status commonly defined as never having engaged in sexual intercourse. Its meaning and the acts counted as intercourse vary across cultures and individuals.

Sexuality: Sexuality encompasses sexual feelings, identities, behaviors, and relationships. Virginity is one way people interpret sexual experience within a broader understanding of sexuality.
Hymen: The hymen is a thin, variable tissue around part of the vaginal opening. Its appearance cannot reliably establish whether someone has had sex, despite persistent associations with virginity.
Virginity pledge: A virginity pledge is a personal or group commitment to abstain from sexual intercourse, often until marriage. Pledges make virginity a public commitment and can shape expectations about sexual behavior.
Bed sheet tradition: A bed sheet tradition is a custom in which blood on wedding bedding is treated as evidence of a bride’s virginity. It illustrates how communities may demand visible proof despite the lack of a reliable bodily test.
Sexual ethics: Sexual ethics examines moral principles and values concerning sexual conduct. Judgments about virginity often depend on beliefs about which sexual acts are morally acceptable.
Sexual abstinence: Sexual abstinence is the deliberate avoidance of some or all sexual activity. Abstinence describes behavior or a choice, while virginity assigns a status that depends on definitions.
Child marriage: Child marriage is a formal or informal union in which at least one party is under 18. Virginity norms can be used to justify early marriage as a means of controlling girls’ sexuality.
Hymenoplasty: Hymenoplasty is surgery intended to reconstruct or alter the hymen. The procedure can reflect pressure to meet expectations that associate the hymen with virginity.
Sexual identity: Sexual identity is how a person understands and describes their sexuality. Some people include virginity or its rejection in how they describe their sexual selves.
Asexuality: Asexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by experiencing little or no sexual attraction. Asexuality concerns attraction, not whether someone has had intercourse or is considered a virgin.

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