Virginity: what does it mean?

"The Virgin Suicides" (1999)
"The Virgin Suicides" (1999)
Periodically, I see a post from a young girl who reveals that she has engaged in some form of sexual behavior other than PIV sex, and she asks if she is still a virgin. For many people, the answer to that question seems to have lost importance, but the question remains. Of course, to answer the question, you must define the term. What does it mean to be a "virgin?"

For me, a virgin is a girl who is completely innocent and naive about sexual matters. That means, of course, that she has not had sex with anyone but it also means that she is unfamiliar with sex, doesn't watch porn, and has not started masturbating. If you disagree with my definition, that's okay, but that is my definition.

This question is asking specifically about female virginity for heterosexual girls. What do you think it means for a heterosexual girl to be a "virgin?"
To be a virgin, a girl MUST have an intact hymen
Vote A
A virgin doesn't necessarily need to still have her hymen but she cannot have had penis-in-vagina penetration
Vote B
A virgin doesn't necessarily need to still have her hymen but she cannot have had vaginal or anal penetration
Vote C
A virgin doesn't necessarily need to still have her hymen but she cannot have had vaginal, anal, or oral penetration
Vote D
A virgin doesn't necessarily need to still have her hymen but she cannot have had vaginal, anal, or oral penetration and she cannot have given or received any sexual stimulation in any form
Vote E
A virgin doesn't necessarily need to still have her hymen but she cannot have had vaginal, anal, or oral penetration, given or received sexual stimulation in any form, and never been even partially nude with the opposite sex
Vote F
A virgin is a girl who is completely innocent and unknowledgeable about sexual matters.
Vote G
Select gender and age to cast your vote:
Girl Guy
1 1

Most Helpful Girls

  • For the first time in life I found a definition of virgin that disqualifies me as virgin, lmao.

    I think a virgin is someone who didn't have sex. However, I also do believe there's a grey area of not having intercourse but other things like oral sex and what not. Of course a person who never even kissed is nowhere on the same level as someone who made out and had oral sex and exchanged nudes... I actually find it pretty ironic when some people are like "oh we are saving for marriage so we give each other blowjobs and share nudes but haven't had intercourse" I wonder what's the point of even saving it for marriage if you end up doing everything else but intercourse anyway? You know what I mean?

    I am saving myself for marriage and I haven't even kissed a guy, or even romantically hugged someone lol. My boyfriend has done things as far as giving as receiving oral and even though he calls himself virgin I tell him what I said last paragraph: doing everything except penetration itself doesn't sound very virgin to me.

    Watching porn, masturbating, things that you basically do on your own like that doesn't count as losing virginity to me because it isn't necessarily about having experienced sexual pleasure/stimulation but rather having things done with someone else, that's the key point in my opinion.

  • A Virgin is someone who never participated in any sexual act such as sex or oral sex. Virgin means pure. Some say they’re a Virgin but has had oral sex. I remember a guy telling me “my ex girlfriend was a Virgin but she gave oral.” It sorta doesn’t make the situation any different then she’ll be considered as a woman who never had sex yet or is celibate but not a Virgin.

Most Helpful Guys

  • There are many reasons she may not have an intact hymen, primarily, some are just not born with one! Others, are just activities, and living life! Sometimes it is thinner and just breaks, some day, for whatever reason, even though she has never had sex. So not a good definition.
    Never masturbating, or watching porn? Like a tiny percentage of young women, now, from what I have read! They all seem to know, and have seen at least some porn, and a penis, by 13-14, maybe younger!
    Why is a Lady being a Virgin, so important to soooooo many, when they have fcked around, and screwed anything with a hole and heartbeat!!
    Some say 'Religion', but they don't seem to mind screwing anyone who will, but when he wants to marry, she must be a virgin? Hypocrites!!
    I don't want a virgin! I want a woman that knows what she likes, and how she likes to feel, and loves to share that, between us! I want a close companion, a partner, not someone I need to teach EVERYTHING to, and deal with her insecurities and fears!!

  • Depends in what context you are talkong about

    Most times when you say virgin it means have you had sexual intercourse yet

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What Girls & Guys Said

2 12
  • I think a virgin is a girl who didn't have vaginal, anal, or oral sex (also included here is getting pegged and stuff like that; it's not just not having contact with a penis or someone's bodily fluids). There's a reason they're called "oral sex" and "anal sex": They're still sex for all intents and purposes. I think masturbation doesn't count, and, in fact, if I found a girl that said she never masturbated, I'd think I found a liar, and nothing more

  • It's nothing to overestimate. Or not a definition to use for labeling people.

  • If a girl didn't had PIV then she a virgin, but if she done other sexual things with a guy then she is only a technical virgin, that means that technically a virgin but she is not innocent, and technical virgin girls tend to be hypocrites. As for hymen, it could be a separated question. Physical virginity is based on hymen, mental virginity based on PIV, note guys don't have a physical virginity, but then guys virginity tend to be less valued than girls virginity, and that's one of the reasons for that. An intact hymen serve as a proof for a girl's physical and mental virginity, if a girl's hymen is not intact then there is high chance that she is lying about never having a PIV.

    https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TechnicalVirgin

  • Virginity is all about hymen.

    • A virgin girl should be respected and treated like a princess, virginity is a lot more than hymen, when a girl's hymen is intact and she never had sex before, it shows a lot about her attitude and how much precious she is...

    • ... Okay

    • @TonyMetal___86 Why? Ever been with one?

    • Show All
  • She's innocent and chaste.

  • Virginity is neither. Virginity is a mindset that occurs when you have not yet commited to having been a sexually active person.

    Virginity is in the mind, not the body.

    • Option G?

  • That this person did not have vanilla copulation yet.

  • A virgin girl must have an intact hymen but if she didn't and never had sex before, she's still a virgin...

    A girl should stay virgin until marriage because only the man who marry her will be able to touch her, see her naked and make love with her...

  • I voted B , seems to be the bear minimum for someone to be a virgin from a technical point since the hymen can still be broken from other reasons and not sexually but she may not be a virgin as far as not experiencing other things so it’s really how you look at it, as in doing things that won’t ever cause pregnancy

  • Interesting question

    I answered: A virgin doesn't necessarily need to still have her hymen but she cannot have had vaginal or anal penetration

  • You don't get to make up your own definition of words. My dictionary says "a person who has never had sexual intercourse."

    • The dictionary also defines virgin as "a person who is naive, innocent, or inexperienced in a particular context." So the word has different meanings.

    • The naivity definition is in a non-sexual context. It also means unaltered as in a virgin forest. In the sexual context you are referencing, it means a person who hasn't had sexual intercourse.

    • The word has different meanings to different people, which is what prompts the many questions on the subject. Dictionaries do not establish the definitions which everyone must follow; dictionaries report on how words are actually used. In this case, your dictionary has apparently not caught up with the change in common usage.

  • intact hymen - Purity test.. saving yourself before marriage.. a Chasity belt.. unpure thoughts of sexual nature... etc.. etc...

  • Originally I would've said B but after thinking for a bit I've picked C

  • So long as there’s never been a cock in her vagina she’s a virgin in my opinion but if she’s sucked like 5 guys then i re evaluate