TY - JOUR
T1 - Saving sex for marriage
T2 - an analysis of lay attitudes towards virginity and its perceived benefit for marriage
AU - Olamijuwon, Emmanuel
AU - Odimegwu, Clifford
N1 - EO acknowledges funding support from the Southern Africa Systems Analysis Centre, National Research Foundation, South Africa, grant number: 118772, and the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
PY - 2021/9/16
Y1 - 2021/9/16
N2 - How do young people interpret virginity loss, and does saving sex for marriage have any socially constructed benefit for marriage? This study answers this question using data obtained from a peer-led Facebook group with more than 175,000 participants, mostly in African countries, particularly Nigeria. A reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyze 100 public wall posts and 3860 comments posted on the group between June 2018 and May 2019. Four distinctive interpretations of virginity loss comprising the gift, precondition, stigma, and process emerged from the data. These interpretations were also gendered, such that a woman’s virginity was interpreted as a gift but a stigma for men. The wall posts and comments further suggest that saving sex for marriage may have some culturally sensitive benefits, including trust, and marital sexual satisfaction. Altogether the findings expand the current understanding of the diverse perceived benefits of virginity that move beyond honour and respect to more complex benefits like trust in a union, sexual satisfaction and ultimate satisfaction in marriage.
AB - How do young people interpret virginity loss, and does saving sex for marriage have any socially constructed benefit for marriage? This study answers this question using data obtained from a peer-led Facebook group with more than 175,000 participants, mostly in African countries, particularly Nigeria. A reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyze 100 public wall posts and 3860 comments posted on the group between June 2018 and May 2019. Four distinctive interpretations of virginity loss comprising the gift, precondition, stigma, and process emerged from the data. These interpretations were also gendered, such that a woman’s virginity was interpreted as a gift but a stigma for men. The wall posts and comments further suggest that saving sex for marriage may have some culturally sensitive benefits, including trust, and marital sexual satisfaction. Altogether the findings expand the current understanding of the diverse perceived benefits of virginity that move beyond honour and respect to more complex benefits like trust in a union, sexual satisfaction and ultimate satisfaction in marriage.
KW - Sexual abstinence
KW - Marital satifiaction
KW - Women's health
KW - Social media
KW - Facebook
KW - Africa
KW - Virginity
U2 - 10.1007/s12119-021-09909-7
DO - 10.1007/s12119-021-09909-7
M3 - Article
SN - 1095-5143
VL - First Online
JO - Sexuality & Culture
JF - Sexuality & Culture
ER -