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Virgins: A Cultural History

In the Middle Ages it was believed that only a virgin could charm a unicorn out of hiding; but far from being a quaint, anachronistic concept, virginity remains a central value in Western culture. Typing "virgin" into Google results in more than one million hits and includes everything from the Anti-Nicene Fathers to advertisements for free teen virgins, displaying a range of current cultural preoccupations with virginity. This lively, wide-ranging examination of a phenomenon that has touched many aspects of our culture names different archetypes and facets of the concept of virginity. Examples include the Medical Virgin — exploring what exactly virginity is and how to reliably identify one; the Religious Virgin — from the Madonna to the American Christian Right’s insistence on sexual abstinence before marriage; the Popular Virgin of Gothic fiction and modern day horror films; the Political Virgin — virginity’s intimate connection with money and power; and the Monstrous Virgin, as embodiment of what is ultimately unknowable and of violence, excess, and death. Anke Bernau's witty and thought-provoking examination of virginity reveals its many bizarre manifestations throughout its long history as well as its growing contemporary potency.

  • Format
  • paperback
  • Pages
  • 256
  • Language
  • english
  • ISBN
  • 9781847080127
  • Genres
  • history, feminism, microhistory, gender
  • Release date
  • 2008