Is selling your virginity empowering?

[Argus]

Seems there is an American college student auctioning off her virginity. So far she's gotten 10,000 offers, and the top price being offered is 2.5 mllion pounds - which I believe is something over 3.5 million dollars. Quite aside from the ethical implications, does this not make a rather clear statement on who has the power in terms of sexual relationships? Is this woman degrading herself or letting men degrade their gender by showing just how desperate men are for sex? The student involved is - wait for it - a womans studies student. You know womens studies - those courses where women can learn what victims they are, and that the patriarchal society is responsible for all of the world's problems.... those places filled with man haters and women lovers? In any event, if her aim is to show what panting, lustful fools men are, she's certainly doing a good job of it. If her aim is profit then sex sells even better than we might previously have thought.

Her sister, btw, according to the article, paid for her degree by working as a prostitute - for three weeks.

So what's more worse, three weeks of sex, or four years of wearing high heels and waiting on tables in a bar?

Student auctions off virginity

[jdobbin]

Seems there is an American college student auctioning off her virginity.

I first thought this might be a scam and that she is writing a paper on this for her Master's thesis. The thesis would be on who would buy such a thing.

[DrGreenthumb]

Again, i say her body, her right. If she can become a millionaire from an hour of "work" then more power to her.

Edited January 13, 2009 by Charles Anthony
deleted re-copied Opening Post

[kimmy]

Seems there is an American college student auctioning off her virginity. So far she's gotten 10,000 offers, and the top price being offered is 2.5 mllion pounds - which I believe is something over 3.5 million dollars.

Well, Argus... social conservatives, moralists, and religious people have been complaining for decades that young women give up their virginity too cheaply. Seems like this woman is doing her best to drive up the price.

-k

[Michael Hardner]

I'm curious as to what is the % of conservatives versus % of liberals that would be against this plan.

[RB]

It is confirmation of the classic line "sex sells" so now you have a truth, sex is worth a whole lot apparently.

I wish I could relate to new order of decay of ethics and morals values in this free society...what we also call Western values. Look, if you were called upon today as charitable efforts to preserve the dignity of our sexual ethics and moral values, this could easily be the last effort of preserving what is not worth preserving.

What I mean since I have to also write in exposition is that if you take the current societal sexual values; put another way, what is fashionable, would the worldly loose morals, and experience of today be the ones we should keep alive in traditions, books, or music for instructions of future generations, to disseminate in churches, villages, something we can live with and bear to be told by every person, to tell an unknown. Or this reality sounds more familiar, parent to child - "I have this experience before, think about this big decision, don't do it"

I joined some social groups such as facebook, myspace etc. a while ago to check up on my teen and look into the friends conversation now and again. I can say that the amounts of peer pressure to have sex and experience sex is totally shocking. First sex means nothing; it is not personal or special. Everyone is simply readily available; there is no value or pride in who or what you have sex with. Secondly this sex means nothing is our core social system to follow, it is all around, the TV, music, movie, billboards, magazines, teachers, some parents....It would take a mighty strong will person of character, who has set values and ethics outside of this current social convention of sex sells to remain sane.

The current young ungracious generation is ready to "fight and kill", and are more vocal about their rights, and freedoms and I can nearly vouch they might have more information readily available but they are less imaginative, seriously lazy, less intelligent than their grandparent generation. Perhaps I don't get it.

This is what I believe. That what is fundamental and principle to high morals and believes, also builds a character and translate into who or what you become - i.e. a person who has risen above them self to the power of principles.

Here is what I also believe.

That folks have no pride and hope for themselves. We have overworked the value of AMEN. In its broadest moment people have no respect for themselves and faith in the same or others. What matters is money. Combined with loose morals, less imagination, seriously lazy, less intelligent, what a generation of faithful we have come rely on. Now, there is no time for sentimental nonsense, and nothing to cry about.

I can characterize the unharnessed youth running with lustrous wild thoughts being drag though the ruts of current sex traits to the youth’s inability to see further than his nose.

So good luck selling the virginity.

[OddSox]

I joined some social groups such as facebook, myspace etc. a while ago to check up on my teen and look into the friends conversation now and again. I can say that the amounts of peer pressure to have sex and experience sex is totally shocking. First sex means nothing; it is not personal or special. Everyone is simply readily available; there is no value or pride in who or what you have sex with. Secondly this sex means nothing is our core social system to follow, it is all around, the TV, music, movie, billboards, magazines, teachers, some parents....It would take a mighty strong will person of character, who has set values and ethics outside of this current social convention of sex sells to remain sane.

Perhaps instead of 'checking of on your teen' you should actually sit down and talk to him/her and their friends. You seem to have a seriously distorted view of young people today - if you really feel this way I'm not sure why you even bother...

[krazy kanuck]

I wonder what you get for a twenty??

[KeyStone]

Seems there is an American college student auctioning off her virginity. So far she's gotten 10,000 offers, and the top price being offered is 2.5 mllion pounds - which I believe is something over 3.5 million dollars. Quite aside from the ethical implications, does this not make a rather clear statement on who has the power in terms of sexual relationships? Is this woman degrading herself or letting men degrade their gender by showing just how desperate men are for sex? The student involved is - wait for it - a womans studies student. You know womens studies - those courses where women can learn what victims they are, and that the patriarchal society is responsible for all of the world's problems.... those places filled with man haters and women lovers? In any event, if her aim is to show what panting, lustful fools men are, she's certainly doing a good job of it. If her aim is profit then sex sells even better than we might previously have thought.

Her sister, btw, according to the article, paid for her degree by working as a prostitute - for three weeks.

So what's more worse, three weeks of sex, or four years of wearing high heels and waiting on tables in a bar?

Student auctions off virginity

For three and a half million, there better be blood on the sheets.

[RB]

Perhaps instead of 'checking of on your teen' you should actually sit down and talk to him/her and their friends. You seem to have a seriously distorted view of young people today - if you really feel this way I'm not sure why you even bother...

I must have developed a perfect faith in my own perception of disappointment in youths and their decaying morals.

Every parent should have willful actions to check on their children when they sense idleness or restlessness. It is what is called curiosity and also knowing what the kids are up to these days, and hopefully it is auctioning their virginity.

[RB]

For three and a half million, there better be blood on the sheets.

There is surgery available to stitch the hymen together again and any women to become a virgin many times, no worries there.

[guyser]

Every parent should have willful actions to check on their children when they sense idleness or restlessness. It is what is called curiosity and also knowing what the kids are up to these days, and hopefully it is auctioning their virginity.

How do you propose to explain to your child the lack of trust and invasion of their privacy ?

[Guest American Woman]

Any guy who would pay for a stranger's virginity is as big a loser as the woman who would put it up for bid.

[M.Dancer]

How do you propose to explain to your child the lack of trust and invasion of their privacy ?

I explained to my daughter (age 9) ...

"kids are stupid. Teenagers get even stupider just before they are fuill grown. Without adults and parenst especially looking out for them, they would die. Now eat your peas and be thankful that your parents love you and look after you and will protect you from the stupidity of your teenage years"

Edited January 14, 2009 by M.Dancer

[RB]

How do you propose to explain to your child the lack of trust and invasion of their privacy ?

There comes a time in every one of us when we can decide to make ourselves or our children lives better or worst.

Parents can judge how to bring up up a child. First, you can become ashamed, creep away quietly and half express your thoughts to children. Or you can become relieve that you are no coward, you give it a shot, and you have also done your best.

[Guest American Woman]

I explained to my daughter (age 9) ...

"kids are stupid. Teenagers get even stupider just before they are fuill grown. Without adults and parenst especially looking out for them, they would die. Now eat your peas and be thankful that your parents love you and look after you and will protect you from the stupidity of your teenage years"

And of course explaining it to a nine year old is the same as explaining it to a teenager. Good luck with the "now eat your peas" when she's a teenager.

Edited January 14, 2009 by American Woman

[Melanie_]

There comes a time in every one of us when we can decide to make ourselves or our children lives better or worst.

Parents can judge how to bring up up a child. First, you can become ashamed, creep away quietly and half express your thoughts to children. Or you can become relieve that you are no coward, you give it a shot, and you have also done your best.

I'm a mom of 4 - 3 still in their teens, one grown and gone from home. I've always thought that I have about the first 16 years to instill the values that I think will serve my children well. After that, I have to trust that I've done my job, and that they will take those values and live them when I'm not by their side.

Having said that, this isn't really about parenting, it is about an individual making a choice. I may think it is a dumb choice, but who am I to judge her? She is the one who has to justify it to herself, and live with it.

[BC_chick]

There's joke I heard a while ago: A man asks a woman if she'll sleep with him for $100. She says noway. He says okay, how about for a $1,000,000? She says okay. He say alright, now that we've established our bottom line, let's negotiate.

As for Arugus' initial question, empowerment through prostitution is a very thorny issue in feminism. Believe it or not, there are two schools of thought on the issue. I've never really taken a stance one way or another, but I don't think anyone can compare prostituting onself for survival to what this woman is doing.

I would wager that many (non-millionaire) men would also become 'man-hating empowered prostitutes' if they had the opportunity to give it up for $3.5 mil.

Edited January 14, 2009 by BC_chick

[Argus]

I'm a mom of 4 - 3 still in their teens, one grown and gone from home. I've always thought that I have about the first 16 years to instill the values that I think will serve my children well. After that, I have to trust that I've done my job, and that they will take those values and live them when I'm not by their side.

Having said that, this isn't really about parenting, it is about an individual making a choice. I may think it is a dumb choice, but who am I to judge her? She is the one who has to justify it to herself, and live with it.

If she gets millions from this is it really a dumb choice? I don't think so. Let's admit that most women lose their virginity while drunk to some fumble-fingered teenage boy they'll start hating a few weeks or months later, in the back seat of a car, or in their parents' basement. It's not like it's a big, romantic and beautiful event to be cherished forever.

[BigAl]

This is the most hilarious thing ever. This woman is perhaps more brilliant than every one of her classmates put together. I've always thought strippers are really smart, because they make a lot of money for something that (in my estimation) is no big deal -- taking off their clothes. This girl just took it to the next level. If some tool wants to spend three and a half million dollars to deflower a woman, why not let him? She walks away a millionaire. Shit, I'd do that in a second -- except the double standard is no woman will pay me three and a half mil to sleep with her. Unfortunately.

[DrGreenthumb]

This is the most hilarious thing ever. This woman is perhaps more brilliant than every one of her classmates put together. I've always thought strippers are really smart, because they make a lot of money for something that (in my estimation) is no big deal -- taking off their clothes. This girl just took it to the next level. If some tool wants to spend three and a half million dollars to deflower a woman, why not let him? She walks away a millionaire. Shit, I'd do that in a second -- except the double standard is no woman will pay me three and a half mil to sleep with her. Unfortunately.

Shit I'd do it for a quarter mill, and for an extra 50,000 my wife will videotape it and make cofee for her aftward lol

[acidburn]

knowing all the guys one has made out with or slept with or done "things" with and how little we get back for it - emotionally or other wise. and are sometimes worse off for even having done it. and then taking into consideration how far in debt one is or how much one struggles and tries to get ahead. as a woman whos thought about this and has friends who have talked about it as well - short term knowledge of what we are doing to ourselves and getting something back for it that we deem as acceptible seems the lesser evil than continually trying to do the so called "right" thing and getting northing back but emotional pain and further down the shitter.

but thats just my opinion based on extensive talks with girl friends of mine.

[RB]

isn't really about parenting, it is about an individual making a choice.

Parents have a lot to do with the choices the offspring make - they shaped the value system of children, the right, wrong, do or not to do

But also there is so much outside influence other than a parent, it gets dizzy, with folks like paris hilton around the imagination to sell much sex is unresistable.

The majority of people would agree, what the heck, go girl, and do it for the money. It is ironic because there is not much value in having sex, just hook up, send a text, get your friend with benefits over and the business of the day is just for fucks. This is a standard. Relationships and commitments don't last long; people are on the go, keeping an eye open for their next encounter. Marriages end because this standard.

There are no virgins around hence such a rare price.

The feminist are bitter because the virgin did not earn her dues in the upward toil to become rich at the expense of a man.

And now, it is almost laughable if you waited for the right person, and the prospect turned out to be some penniless dude. What fools some of us were.

Edited January 14, 2009 by RB

[BigAl]

Parents have a lot to do with the choices the offspring make - they shaped the value system of children, the right, wrong, do or not to do

But also there is so much outside influence other than a parent, it gets dizzy, with folks like paris hilton around the imagination to sell much sex is unresistable.

The majority of people would agree, what the heck, go girl, and do it for the money. It is ironic because there is not much value in having sex, just hook up, send a text, get your friend with benefits over and the business of the day is just for fucks. This is a standard. Relationships and commitments don't last long; people are on the go, keeping an eye open for their next encounter. Marriages end because this standard.

There are no virgins around hence such a rare price.

The feminist are bitter because the virgin did not earn her dues in the upward toil to become rich at the expense of a man.

And now, it is almost laughable if you waited for the right person, and the prospect turned out to be some penniless dude. What fools some of us were.

Good lord, and I thought I was cynical. I have to laugh at the feminist comment...I'm not sure you understand the tenets of feminism (but then, I'm not sure too many self-proclaimed feminists do either...) This sort of brightened up my day.

[M.Dancer]

...I'm not sure you understand the tenets of feminism ...

might be becasue there are so many differnt varieties of feminism...

3 Movements and ideologies

3.1 Socialist and Marxist feminisms

3.2 Radical feminism

3.3 Liberal feminism

3.4 Black feminism

3.5 Postcolonial feminism and third-world feminism

3.6 Multiracial feminism

3.7 Libertarian feminism

3.8 Post-structural and postmodern feminism

3.9 Ecofeminism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist