Prime
Is virginity of value today?
What you need to know:
Although not considered a serious deal breaker nowadays, many people consider virginity important because it shows that one’s partner is patient and trustworthy.
When the Bible uses the word virgin, it refers to an unmarried person who has not had sexual relations (Esther 2:2 and Revelation 14:4). In today’s culture, many people use the word virginity to express sexual purity; however, many others use a technical definition to find loopholes in moral standards, limiting the word to mean only “the condition of never having gone all the way.”
Thus, a couple can do anything and everything short of sexual intercourse and still technically call themselves “virgins.” However, chastity should affect the heart, mind and soul, not just certain body parts.
According to research on sexual behaviours among adolescents in 2019 by Tropical Medicine and International Health in a rural setting in Eastern Uganda, out of 598 adolescents, 108 (18.1 percent) reported to have had sexual intercourse.
Dr Nicholas Ahumuza, a public health specialist and assistant lecturer at Kampala International University- School of medicine, says keeping oneself pure until marriage is important since it lowers the risk of spreading infections such as the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer, the most common type of cancer today.
“However, although our African culture has reverence for virginity, nowadays, I would consider dishonesty, bad character, promiscuity, disrespectfulness and apathy as deal breakers in either short term or long-term relationships instead of virginity,” Dr Ahumuza says.
Value
Judith Adur says keeping one’s virginity until marriage helps partners see each other’s worth.
“I have purposely kept my virginity as I wait for the right man whom I will introduce to my family and then, he will make me his official wife,” Adur shares, adding that when God is put first in a relationship, virginity until marriage is possible.
To Jackline, virginity is not a big deal breaker but one’s HIV status is.
“As long as you are HIV negative, all other things can be ignored. As a matter of fact, a partner does not expect you to be a virgin because if you are, they will consider you inexperienced in matters of sexual intercourse,” she adds.
Important
Erasmus Mugisha says modernity does not change the fact that many men, if not every man, want to marry a virgin.
“Depending on how the two individuals view virginity, in most cases, love outweighs virginity,” Mugisha explains, adding that before one even considers starting a relationship, they must know the values they want in a life partner, which must all work together for the good of the relationship.
Mugisha adds that virginity means that one has kept themselves pure for a lifelong partner so that at the right time, they can be able to share the ever-existing intimate human interaction with one person.
It is, therefore, very important and key for any relationship.
Trust
Scientifically, studies have shown a positive link between the rates of divorce and the number of sexual partners one had before marriage in both males and females.
This is thought to stem from the fact that if one has been sexually active before marriage with different partner(s), they may compare their husband or wife to the ex-partners and if they do not meet one’s expectations, discontent may set in, causing conflict.
