Virginity and Premarital Sex in Contemporary China

Abstract

Young women in China are presented with conflicting messages and values on the issue of premarital sex. Traditional insistence upon female virginity until marriage is an important social norm in China. While loss of virginity brings no spiritual guilt to the individual it dishonors the offending girls family and community. Premarital sex is therefore widely denounced. On the other hand there is growing social acceptance of close interactions between men and women. Such interaction provides young people with greater opportunity to explore love and have sex. This paper explores the traditional view of female virginity and love the strategies men use to persuade women to have premarital sexual intercourse and the social and institutional practices which perpetuate womens difficult dilemma in this period of Chinas transition from a sexually closed society to one which is more open.