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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
slow-paced
Virgin: The Untouched History
by Hanne Blank is a fascinating look at how we see virginity, and how virginity has been viewed throughout history and in different cultures.
Humans are the only species that care about virginity - although we are not the only species with a hymen. Even then, virginity cannot be defined and there are no guaranteed way to see if someone is a virgin or not. The only thing that's sure is that we are all different. The question of virginity has been one way to keep women under patriarchal control for centuries, but even then it is only in more recent times that it has become a fetish. In addition it shows how colonialism led to the sexualization of women of colour.
The elusiveness of virginity itself, and the many natural variations of the hymen have led to, and in some places of the world continue to lead to, suffering of young girls and women. Historically and culturally speaking there have been and are places where even the mere accusal of sexual misconduct can cost a woman her life or her future.
Virgin is well-researched, insightful and I greatly recommend it.
by Hanne Blank is a fascinating look at how we see virginity, and how virginity has been viewed throughout history and in different cultures.Humans are the only species that care about virginity - although we are not the only species with a hymen. Even then, virginity cannot be defined and there are no guaranteed way to see if someone is a virgin or not. The only thing that's sure is that we are all different. The question of virginity has been one way to keep women under patriarchal control for centuries, but even then it is only in more recent times that it has become a fetish. In addition it shows how colonialism led to the sexualization of women of colour.
The elusiveness of virginity itself, and the many natural variations of the hymen have led to, and in some places of the world continue to lead to, suffering of young girls and women. Historically and culturally speaking there have been and are places where even the mere accusal of sexual misconduct can cost a woman her life or her future.
Virgin
is well-researched, insightful and I greatly recommend it.Quotes
Why, then, we might wonder, is it the particular combination of a penis and a vagina that has for so long been considered the definitive sex act, the act that terminates virginity? There are several reasons. For one, the only form of sexual activity that renders women pregnant is that which involves inserting a penis into a vagina. Second, penis-in-vagina intercourse is the single uniquely heterosexual act of which human beings are capable. The other common sexual permutations of body parts of which humans are capable are essentially gender-neutral. Kisses and caresses know no gender, to say nothing of oral sex. For a penis to be inserted into a vagina, on the other hand, there can be only one man and one woman, and furthermore they must be performing the single specific action that cannot be performed by a man on another man or by a woman on another woman. What this means is that virginity, at least in the classical, canonical form, is exclusively heterosexual.
In the West, virginity no only has a sexual orientation and a gender, it has a color. Christian symbology traditionally uses light and lightness of color to indicate purity and holiness, while darkness and darker colors are associated with sin and corruption. When European white Christians began to colonize parts of the world where people had darker skin, they often took this light-equals-good / dark-equals-bad mentality with them. Because the sexual rules of these darker-skinned people's supposedly "primitive" cultures failed to map neatly onto what European Christians had come to expect as normal, natural, and indeed God-given laws regarding gender, sex, and the organization of families, European whites often assumed that the indigenous people of Africa, the Americas, and elsewhere were simply wicked and lacking any sense of sexual morality. From such encounters, Europeans frequently derived the belief that virginity was an attribute of being civilized, which was to say Christian, European, and white.
Virginity was a commodity with a limited shelf life. Well into the 1830s, even writers like the relatively progressive British freethinker journalist Richard Carlile could say with a straight face that spinsters were "a sort of sub-animal class" and that "It is a fact that can hardly have escaped the notice of anyone that women who have never had sexual commerce begin to droop when about twenty-five years of age... their forms degenerate, their features sink, and the peculiar character of the old maid becomes apparent."
Very informative. I love reading about virginity and culture (Valenti got me hooked, kay?). This was history heavy but seemed to lack footnotes? Also dense and a bit disorganized. I skipped a few chapters and I'm giving up on those but it is still a good read.
It's rare for me to be completely engaged in a history book, even if I find the subject matter interesting. I usually have to put them down and read them in snippets; not so for this one, I had trouble putting it down. It was engaging, interesting, and written in a way that wasn't dry and boring.
There's a lot of hype, uncertainty, confusion, etc. around virginity. What are the origins, why is such importance placed on it by certain cultures, etc. And then there's the plain physical misunderstandings (what is a hymen, and is it definitive proof of virginity?). Blank breaks the book out into two sections, the first focusing on the physical aspects of virginity (with plenty discussed on the hymen), and the second looking at the cultural aspects of virginity (largely from a historical perspective). I will say that the majority of it is Europe/America based for this section and follows the thought patterns primarily in those areas.
As said before, this was not a dry book. Just some of the terminology kept it interesting from a linguistic point of view. The topic, while it could be funny at times, did swing into the serious realm more often (of course it did, the concept of virginity has been a method of control for a very long time). Historical topics included the sex trade of virgins, discussions on famous virgins (i.e. Mary & Queen Elizabeth), and marriage traditions. There was some contemporary information, but it was a briefer part of the book; in fact, it may be my only complaint because I would have really liked to see more info on the chastity balls, etc. in current culture.
While it can be a disturbing topic, I think this is an important area to research a little more into and understand, particularly as it can affect culture even currently. I highly recommend taking a look.
Review by M. Reynard 2021
There's a lot of hype, uncertainty, confusion, etc. around virginity. What are the origins, why is such importance placed on it by certain cultures, etc. And then there's the plain physical misunderstandings (what is a hymen, and is it definitive proof of virginity?). Blank breaks the book out into two sections, the first focusing on the physical aspects of virginity (with plenty discussed on the hymen), and the second looking at the cultural aspects of virginity (largely from a historical perspective). I will say that the majority of it is Europe/America based for this section and follows the thought patterns primarily in those areas.
As said before, this was not a dry book. Just some of the terminology kept it interesting from a linguistic point of view. The topic, while it could be funny at times, did swing into the serious realm more often (of course it did, the concept of virginity has been a method of control for a very long time). Historical topics included the sex trade of virgins, discussions on famous virgins (i.e. Mary & Queen Elizabeth), and marriage traditions. There was some contemporary information, but it was a briefer part of the book; in fact, it may be my only complaint because I would have really liked to see more info on the chastity balls, etc. in current culture.
While it can be a disturbing topic, I think this is an important area to research a little more into and understand, particularly as it can affect culture even currently. I highly recommend taking a look.
Review by M. Reynard 2021
challenging
dark
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Thoroughly researched (and chock full of clever details), with plenty of wit to spice it up. Just as excellent as you think it should be.
informative
medium-paced
The best reason to get this book is the bibliography. I enjoyed it but it's definitely a shotgun blast through the centuries.
When I mentioned to friends that I was reading this book, one of them started railing about the fact that academia and the tenure process had caused too much research in esoteric areas of history. I sort of scoffed and said that this book was interesting and sometimes these micro-histories were fun to read.
Well, having finished this history, I am probably in agreement with my friend. This book started out with facts that were new to me and I liked the author's style. However, after awhile, I started to say to myself if this doesn't improve by the end of the chapter, I'm quitting. Then the author would seemingly throw me a bone and I would learn something new. However, I skimmed the last 50 pages because I wanted to be done. This is the second book I have finished lately that I should have just stopped.
This was not required reading for school, no one was making me learn all this history about virginity. I thought I was interested in this subject and it turned out that I was not that into it. There are too many other subjects that I want to know more about.
I recommend this history to people in gender studies or women studies. It might help one of them to get an A in their classes.
Well, having finished this history, I am probably in agreement with my friend. This book started out with facts that were new to me and I liked the author's style. However, after awhile, I started to say to myself if this doesn't improve by the end of the chapter, I'm quitting. Then the author would seemingly throw me a bone and I would learn something new. However, I skimmed the last 50 pages because I wanted to be done. This is the second book I have finished lately that I should have just stopped.
This was not required reading for school, no one was making me learn all this history about virginity. I thought I was interested in this subject and it turned out that I was not that into it. There are too many other subjects that I want to know more about.
I recommend this history to people in gender studies or women studies. It might help one of them to get an A in their classes.
I highly recommend this book to anyone, but especially to women and anyone interested in gender studies, history, sociology, etc. We are bombarded with so many cultural messages about sexuality these days, with little to no historical context. It was very eye-opening to read this book and learn about how (female) virginity has been understood and valued differently in different time periods. (Note: This books focuses on Western history - I would love to see further exploration of this subject that takes different cultures/geographic regions into account!)
This was pretty interesting, and I definitely learned some things.