Disney starlets flaunt purity rings while writhing on stripper poles, brothels hold million-dollar virginity auctions, and artificial hymens can be had for $30 on Chinese websites.
What’s behind this strange moment in our culture—what’s the deal with virginity?
How To Lose Your Virginity, a new documentary by Therese Schecter, digs beneath the damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t double-speak of a society that cynically encourages both virginity and promiscuity. With the same intelligence, diligence and wit she employed in the award-winning I Was a Teenage Feminist, the filmmaker allows the desperately-needed conversation about real-world sexuality to finally take place.
And, how do you lose your virginity? Well, for one thing, you don’t do it alone. The same goes for financing a film. As Schecter so aptly puts it, “We’re on our way to third base—help us go all the way!”
So how about putting out for Therese. Take the “Virginity” pledge, and visit the film’s Kickstarter page to watch a trailer of the film and contribute to the cause.
Also, visit the film’s blog, The American Virgin, for all manner of fascinating, enraging, and comical stuff about virginity and our attitudes towards female sexuality.
Some visuals from The American Virgin blog:
Unfunny T-shirt from Urban Outfiters.
Fashion tips from the Abstinence Clearinghouse
re-issues of old Harlequin titles.
