Do you know any stories about a modern "test" of virginity
or of marital fidelity? Do you know of any folk beliefs about
the knowability of virginity?
Does virginity count as an attribute only among women? What about
men? Is there such a thing as a male virgin?
Is virginity a heterosexual concept only? Do gays and lesbians
define virginity differently that
straights do? Do lesbians talk about virginity in the same way
that gay men do?
am a professor of medieval literature who is writing a book on
verifying virginity in the Middle Ages. My focus is on tests of
chastity, ranging from the medical to the magical.
or example, while a given medieval gynecological
treatise may assert that the hymen is an important sign of virginity,
it may also suggest that there are other ways to test virginity:
one should conduct a urine test (a virgin's urine is clear and
sparkling), or look at which way a woman's breasts point (a virgin's
breasts point up). In romances (where a urine test would not be
at all romantic), we find a number of stories in which a magical
object is used to test virginity or marital fidelity. A common
object is the magic drinking horn: women who attempt to drink
from it and are not chaste (that is, sexually faithful to their
husbands) spill the wine. As my examples suggest, determining
the presence or absence of virginity was a gendered issue in the
Middle Ages; that is, people were much more interested in the
question of women's virginity than that of men's. Moreover, virginity
was (and still is) described according to a socially dominant
heterosexual norm: for the most part, a woman "lost"
her virginity only if she had been penetrated by a penis.
he last chapter of my book will focus on modern
myths about the knowability of virginity. I have set up this website
because I am interested in collecting contemporary stories and
lore about testing or verifying virginity. I am NOT interested
in pornographic narratives or stories about first sexual encounters.
If you send me an email message, please let me know if you give
me permission to cite you and/or your example in my book, and
if you want your name used, or if you wish to remain anonymous.
Kathleen Kelly
Department of English
Northeastern University
Boston MA 02115
kakelly@lynx,neu.edu
9/91997