"Why is it a man's world when there are more women than men in it?"-Adele Lang & Susi Rajah

There's a really fun chapter in "Virgins: A Cultural History" that I have just got to share with you. I just cannot start writing posts on the next book I've read without discussing it. The most important topic that I'm talking about it is 'how to spot a virgin.' This is in fact what Bernau discusses in chapter one.

During the Middle Ages religion was ingrained into everything: government, books, art, common thought, music, and everyday life. Catholicism ruled all. Of course women had no say in religion. The Roman Catholic Church was even more stick about laymen and the church and women and the Church back then than they are now. However, women were given someone special to look up to: the Virgin Mary. I suppose one could say that the Catholic Church is known for it's icons (that's why there was a schism in 1054 C.E.). Of course everyone worships God and Jesus, but there are also saints for people to pray to. For women it's the Virgin Mary and it's always been her. Yes there are many other female saints (icons), but Mary is always marketed first to women (Bernau 2007). During the Middle Ages the Church was behind praying to Mary 100%. Why you may ask. Because she was 'the perfect woman.' First off she's a virgin. Back then virginity was everything: it determined how people looked at you, how people gossiped about you, and how you could marry (Bernau 2007). The Mother of Christ was also pure, motherly, caring, selfless, a good housekeeper; she was basically the perfect wife and mother. So, naturally the Church, being dominated by the dominant sex, would put her on a pedestal.

Obviously you can't determine virginity, but how did the backwards doctors of the Middle Ages think you could? Doctors believed that there were several symptoms of chastity. There were obvious ones that could be found in everyday acts like "shame, modesty, fear, a faultless gait and speech, casting eyes down before men and the acts of men" (Bernau 2007). Other signs were downward pointing breast and urine that is clear and lucid (sometimes white and sparkling) (Bernau 2007). Actually urine was the key to determining virginity (Bernau 2007). Because the vagina of a virgin is closed, thus her passage is narrower and more constrictive, and a woman's is open, a virgin urinates from higher up and when she urinates a hissing noise is produced due to the higher pressure in a closed vagina (Bernau 2007). A more commonly known way to determine a virgin is that she bleeds and experiences extreme pain upon intercourse (her first act of intercourse that is) (Bernau 2007). However, a popular way to determine virginity was through the uterus. It was once believed that the uterus of a virgin was less flexible so it was not easily manually manipulated by a midwife (Bernau 2007). Midwives believed that virginity could also be determined through the labia and pubic hair: "in those women that are married, they lie lower and smoother than in maids; when maids are ripe they are full of hair that grows upon them, but they are more curled in women than the hair of Maidens" (Bernau 2007).

Is being a virgin a very feminist thing to do? Feminism is about being your own woman. You make your own decisions and you don't let men tell you what to do or influence your opinion. If virginity is right for you go for it! Just make sure the decision is our own choice and you're doing it for yourself. Naomi Wolf, one of the most well-known feminists from third-wave feminism, believes that women must learn to accept each other (Wolf 1991). They must learn to respect one another's choices. Until women learn to get along with one another it will be hard for any significant advances to be made in feminism (Wolf 1991). So made your own opinions concerning virginity but please, respect others.