Quizzes & Puzzles7 mins ago
A question for Muslim men: why virgins?
67 Answers
I’m not talking just about the 72 virgins (actually white raisins) promised to suicide bombers as a reward for their murderous atrocities. I gather that ordinary law-abiding Muslim men require their brides to be virgins too and can divorce them on their wedding night if they turn out not to be so.
What is the appeal of the virgin?
It cannot be virginity itself since that soon disappears. I can’t help thinking (and I would be happy to be proved wrong) that it has nothing to do with love or even sex but is a matter of possession. The man insists on knowing that he is the first to ‘possess’ the woman and will not have her if he has already been ‘possessed’ by another man. Is this so? If not, what is it?
(On a frivolous note, give me an experienced woman every time. I go along with Professor Harold Hill, played so brilliantly by Robert Preston in “The Music Man”, who sings:
“I flinch, I shy, when the lass with the delicate air goes by.
I smile, I grin, when the gal with a touch of sin walks in”.)
But the question itself is meant seriously.
What is the appeal of the virgin?
It cannot be virginity itself since that soon disappears. I can’t help thinking (and I would be happy to be proved wrong) that it has nothing to do with love or even sex but is a matter of possession. The man insists on knowing that he is the first to ‘possess’ the woman and will not have her if he has already been ‘possessed’ by another man. Is this so? If not, what is it?
(On a frivolous note, give me an experienced woman every time. I go along with Professor Harold Hill, played so brilliantly by Robert Preston in “The Music Man”, who sings:
“I flinch, I shy, when the lass with the delicate air goes by.
I smile, I grin, when the gal with a touch of sin walks in”.)
But the question itself is meant seriously.
Answers
Best Answer
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Perhaps the obsession with virgins is related to inheritance. It is only recently that the British royal family have conceded that it is OK for the heir to the throne to marry a non-virgin. It used to be believed that if a woman had sex prior to her marriage then the descendants bloodline would be 'contaminated' or 'diluted'. I can't imagine that muslims were any less ignorant. Nowadays of course they are all well educated and open minded so that cannot be the reason, probably just an excuse for a bunch of paedophile pervs.
It's a rther old fashioned male prejudice I think - possibly born out of insecurity, possibly some sort of bizarre status thing like owning a second hand car as opposed to a new one.
When I was at school in the 80's (all male, private and pretty exclusively white and middle class) I remember a RE teacher asking us how many of us expected to be virgins when we got married, almost nobody put their hand up.
He then asked how many people would expect their bride to be - to my astonishment about two thirds put their hand up.
He then proceded to draw a rather mathematically spurious conclusion from that!
I guess it was a long time ago and we were all rather niaive but I think it does illustrate that "the virgin thing" is quite deep seated and perhaps more multicultural than you would think
When I was at school in the 80's (all male, private and pretty exclusively white and middle class) I remember a RE teacher asking us how many of us expected to be virgins when we got married, almost nobody put their hand up.
He then asked how many people would expect their bride to be - to my astonishment about two thirds put their hand up.
He then proceded to draw a rather mathematically spurious conclusion from that!
I guess it was a long time ago and we were all rather niaive but I think it does illustrate that "the virgin thing" is quite deep seated and perhaps more multicultural than you would think
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