Understandings of virginity loss were further patterned by gender and sexual orientation. Different definitions and interpretations of virginity loss gave distinctive shape to individuals' choices about the transitions from virgin to nonvirgin identity. Whether you are a boy or a girl, straight or gay, a youth or an adult, this is where you will find every piece of information for your first and next sexual.
Respondents offered three primary interpretations of virginity-as a gift, stigma, or part of a process-which were associated with distinctive presentations of self, choices of virginity-loss partner, and contraceptive practices. Many argued that virginity could not be lost through rape. Although uniformly agreeing that virginity loss could occur through first coitus, most respondents claimed that other kinds of genital sex could also sometimes result in virginity loss. Drawing on in-depth case studies of 61 women and men of various sexual orientations, ages 18 to 35, I explore the influence of that ambiguity on conduct and identity. Ambiguity surrounds virginity loss as defined and interpreted by young people in the contemporary United States.
