Virgin-Shaming Is The New Slut-Shaming, And It Needs To Stop
I was a virgin throughout college. I was waiting for love, and I didn’t judge others who were sexually active because I knew my decision wasn’t for everyone. But I was shocked by how much other women brutally criticized my choice.
If a man criticized my choice to stay a virgin, I knew he wasn’t a good guy to be around. I had plenty of male friends in college who knew I was a virgin and never brought it up. I had plenty of female friends who were the same, but I also experienced a lot of bullying from other women when it came to my virginity.
Sadly, I’m not alone in this phenomenon. We’ve seen how men who are virgins are shamed for their decision (Colton Underwood’s season of The Bachelor is the perfect example), but the way women shame each other for their lack of sexual experience is a phenomenon we need to talk about.
My Run-In with Hookup Culture
I was hanging out with a group of girlfriends one night at college when one suggested I should have sex with one of my guy friends. Others followed suit in the suggestion. This wasn’t them trying to help me out. This felt like a scene from Mean Girls. Some suggested that no guy would want to date me because of my virginity (which is why they said they were “helping me out”) and that I should just "get it over with." Others suggested that there was chemistry between me and my guy friend.