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Jiara Laine Montano

October 6 2016

No Maidenhead, No Love: Virginity, Value and Virility

The technological and scientific advancements in medicine has enabled the body to become a
unit to be altered, restored and modified. The body become canvas under the hand of a surgeon and
the knife, to be shaped and reshaped through the ideals of beauty and perfection along with the
medical gaze. In modern society, the media bombards women with images endorsing the ideal
feminine beauty. This images reinforces women to be subjected to the ideals of beauty set by the
male gaze. To achieve the standards of beauty set, women not only purchase products and services
that enhances (i.e. enhancement without actual modification through make-up) their natural beauty
but also physical modification through plastic surgery. Plastic surgery is increasingly becoming one of
the popular consumerist acts of women who are using it to achieve these ideals or myths of beauty 1.
According to statistics today by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons or ASPS, approximately
15.6 million cosmetic procedures were performed in the united states alone in 2014. In South Korea,
the infamous plastic surgery capital in the world, plastic surgery is even given as a birthday gift.
Although body modification is not a new phenomenon, hymenoplasty (the surgical restoration of the
hymen), is a relatively new area in the domain of plastic surgery.
There are two kinds of approaches to the issue of virginity: some see virginity as a physiological
state and the virgin as being someone who has never had sexual intercourse 2. Conversely, virginity
is also regarded a moral or spiritual state (i.e. as purity of humility. Notice that these two projections
of virginity oscillates between the physical body, and the social performance. There seems to be a
desire to capture the abstract notion of purity that is assigned to the hymen as a symbol of
virginity3. The social construction of virginity as a core symbol of female honor 4 and of purity has
been argued to play a role in the reinforcement of a patriarchal society. Thus, the prohibition on
premarital sex for females is often considered a measure of mens control over womens lives. 5
In China, however, there has been a transformation of attitudes towards sexuality and gender due to
the broad social transformation of the Maoist and reform era. Since the early 1990s, up to 200 million
of immigrants who had lost their jobs in former state owned companies moved to other cities for new
opportunities. Rural labor migration, and the opportunities of wage labor, increased the independence
of the younger generation. They would leave from home, earning their own income. As such the
possibility of making their own decisions, including decisions regarding their marriage partners,
without control and influence from their parents has increased. The emerging discourse of romantic
love and the increasing acceptance of premarital sex in the country should be seen in this context 6. In
relation to this, anthropological and sociological evidence suggests that premarital sex has become
increasingly accepted both in the countryside and in the cities 7. But even though attitudes towards
1 Aytemiz, Pelin. Lost and Found Virginity: A Critical Look to The Reappearing Hymen In Consumer Culture. (Ileti-S-Im 23, 2015) 99.
2 Clarissa Atkinson qtd in Driver, Martha. The Medieval Hero On Screen.

(McFarland & Company, 2004).

3 Aytemiz, Pelin. Lost and Found Virginity: A Critical Look to The Reappearing Hymen In Consumer Culture. (Ileti-S-Im 23, 2015) 102.
4 Steinmuller, Hans, and Tongxue Tan. Like A Virgin? Hymen Restoration Operations In Contemporary China. (Anthropology Today 2, 2015)
15.

5 Schlegel, Alice. Status, Property, and the Value on Virginity. (American Ethnologist, 1991) 719.
6 Steinmuller, Hans, and Tongxue Tan. Like A Virgin? Hymen Restoration Operations In Contemporary China. (Anthropology Today 2, 2015)
16.

7 See Yan (2003: ch. 3) for rural examples and see Farrer (2002) for urban examples. An earlier study by (Liu et al. 1997) showed increasing
acceptance of premarital sex, especially among higher educated men and women, already in the early 1990s.

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premarital sex has been more accepting, the ideal of female chastity is still present as a symbolic
value. When it comes to choosing a marriage partner, many men still hope for a partner who is a
virgin. There is a clear sense of male chauvinism and moral double standards: while generally sexual
morals have become much less prudish, men still do not wish for this to apply to their own relatives
and in particular their future wives 8. As some husbands still prefer virgin brides, women feel the need
the pressureto pretend they are virgins when they get married. In this situation, hymenoplasty
offers the possibility to fulfil traditionalist requirements that some men have towards their partners.
The illusion of virginity that these products and surgical operations are offering can be read as another
way to show how extreme society is obsessed with controlling womens body and sexuality. This is
an outcome of the patriarchal psyche that offers a fetishistic idealization of virginity as something
sacred and a kind of commoditization of female body. Choosing to have surgery with the motivation
of fear towards rejection should also be regarded as a powerful force of patriarchy. But if the aim of
the surgery is to avoid the harsh consequences of patriarchy such as disapproval, one cannot talk
about any choice but only submission to the authority. This perpetuates the patriarchal society for the
would not deceive if they did not conform. The women observe their own bodies through someone
elses eyes to see the qualities and features they need to change to satisfy the will of the will of the
authority. This internalization of the patriarchal psyche is perpetuating the disempowerment of
women at virginity loss9. Furthermore, this internalization does not only enables women to become
merchandise but also as merchant. They try to increase their value in society by mimicking the
hymens original state which consequently increases the possibility of them being able to marry high
into society. Virginity in this sense becomes some sort of currency.
Unsurprisingly, the value placed on virginity in the Philippine context is also similar to that of the
Chinese. The hymen is regarded as a representation of honor that the woman is responsible for
defending. In the Philippines instead of properly educating the youth towards gender and sexuality,
the figure heads in society insist on abstinence. Parents and particularly the church, enforces the idea
that a woman should not participate in premarital sex as it is wrong and is considered a sin. My
Christian living education teacher in particular said: Girls you are not to surrender your virginity to
anyone else other than your husband. It is your gift to your husband on your wedding day. At such a
young age of 13, the idea of having a lover other than ones husband becomes stigmatized. Aside
from this, I have also heard some of my titas and titos say that a womans virginity is like porcelain,
once broken you cannot put it back together. From this statement, however, there is underlying
implication that a woman becomes a damaged good at the loss of her virginity. She becomes
disempowered at the loss of her hymen. She has become a fallen woman or what people refer to as
laspag. However, the stigma against these fallen women is not only perpetuated by men but also
women. The idea of women vs. women enters into this case. The unfeministic pitching of women
against women, like for example comparing a pokpok with a Maria Clara-type of girl disempowers
both women as they become subjects to the ideals of the male gaze. The ostracizing of women who
engage in premarital sex is infused in almost everything we consume: TV shows, magazines, movies,
even educational materials. Virginal, religious characters are put on a pedestal while liberal women
are shamed. Because of this, even women have learned to slut shame each other in an effort to project
themselves as purer, and thus, worthier of love.
It is not only the church however that influences the stigma against fallen women. There are
provisions and policies in the constitution of the Philippines which promulgates that sex should
happen only within the framework of married life between a man and woman, because this personal

8 Steinmuller, Hans, and Tongxue Tan. Like A Virgin? Hymen Restoration Operations In Contemporary China. (Anthropology Today 2, 2015)
17.

9 Aytemiz, Pelin. Lost and Found Virginity: A Critical Look to The Reappearing Hymen In Consumer Culture. (Ileti-S-Im 23, 2015) 99.

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human expression is solidly connected to the family unit and to society as a whole 10. But while this
seems to apply to both male and females, there is a machismo culture in the Philippines, wherein a
mans worth, among other things, is also equated with his ability to lure other women while a
womans worth is reflected in her purity. Today, sexual attitudes are more liberal and accepting of
radical changes in sexuality and love because of the influences of the media and global
communications, but there is still a stigma against the loss of ones virginity. The patriarchal society is
still being reinforced by both men and women in the society. However, with the rising liberal
thinking in society, hopefully the commodification of women through the value of virginity and the
pressure on women to be virginsvia deception or abstinencewould slowly dissipate.
References
American Society of Plastic Surgeons. "Plastic Surgery Statistics Show New Consumer
Trends." American Society of Plastic Surgeons. American Society of Plastic Surgeons, n.d.
Web. 03 Oct. 2016.
Aytemiz, Pelin. Lost and Found Virginity: A Critical Look to The Reappearing Hymen In
Consumer Culture. Ileti-S-Im 23 (2015): 97-111. Communication & Mass Media Complete.
Web. 5 Oct. 2016.
Carpenter, Laura M. Gender and the Meaning and Experience of Virginity Loss in the Contemporary
United States. Gender and Society 2002: 345. JSTOR Journals. Web. 5 Oct. 2016.
Driver, Martha. The Medieval Hero On Screen. n.p.: McFarland & Company, 2004. European
Library. Web. 5 Oct. 2016
Steinmuller, Hans, and Tongxue Tan. Like A Virgin? Hymen Restoration Operations In
Contemporary China. Anthropology Today 2 (2015): 15. Academic OneFile. Web. 5 Oct.
2016.
Schlegel, Alice. Status, Property, and the Value on Virginity. American Ethnologist 1991: 719734. JSTOR Journals. Web. 5 Oct. 2016.
Hunt, Dee Dicen, and Cora Sta Ana-Gatbonton. Filipino women and sexual violence: Speaking out
and providing services. Immigrant Women's Support Service Forum, 24 Nov 2000, Centre
for Philippine Concerns-Australia, Brisbane Branch, Australia, Conference Presentation.

10 Hunt, Dee Dicen, and Cora Sta Ana-Gatbonton. Filipino women and sexual violence: Speaking out and providing services.