The Purity Myth Summary

The main problem addressed in the introduction to The Purity Myth is how the concept of virginity has been used to oppress young women. Jessica Valenti’s primary claim is that the concept of virginity is a myth designed to hypersexualize young girls and link a woman’s worth to the men that she has been with sexually, thereby perpetuating misogyny. Valenti believes that virginity is a social construct that should be eliminated in order to preserve the dignity of young girls and to teach them actual morality based on ethics. She believes that our culture of antithetical advertisement confuses young women about what they should or should not be doing with their bodies and creates unnecessary conflict over what is right or wrong. The author offers personal anecdotes about her own “loss” of virginity to bolster her position on its validity in describing a woman. Valenti recalls the moment not being as monumental as she figured it would be, and she uses this point to reiterate her point that virginity isn’t actually real, but rather a social construct. These personal stories are a strength, allowing her to connect with the audience through her experiences and draw upon her wisdom around sex. Also, her discussion of the queer community is a strong point, by providing her with an opportunity to address her own heteronormative perspective on virginity and to
Though, this area is well discussed within medicine, with the greater community identifying that virginity has little meaning, as the hymen can be torn or stretched by a variety of nonsexual activity. These issues are important because they negatively impact young women by tying their worth to the status of their sexuality. The concept of virginity is often exclusively limited to heterosexual encounters and is frequently used to delegitimize the sexual relationships of same sex