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In the recent years, selling virginity has swamped the media and the internet, and garnered mixed opinions from different populations the world over. In 2008, a woman who goes by an alias Natalie Dylan auctioned her virginity by means of bids through the Moonlite Bunny Ranch website (Tran, “Now Virginity is For Sale?”). Dylan asserted that she would not have done such a filthy undertaking if it were not because of her stepfather who allegedly used her personal information to get hold of fake student loans, and later run away with the money, leaving Dylan with a huge debt (APPE, “Virgin Records”).
Also, in 2013, a Brazilian high school student auctioned her virginity to help her ailing, bed-ridden mother. She posted her video on YouTube, and so far, received a highest offer of $35,000 (Darlington and Brocchetto, “Teen Offers Virginity for Money”). Whether there is an established consensus over the legality of the act, whether virginity auctioning entails human trafficking or not, still it involves ethical and moral issues that need to be dealt with. Despite the fact that the means appears to be justifiable in that it carries rather strong and convincing reasons, which is based heavily on either an urgent or a critical need, it is particularly crucial to deliberate on the probable consequences that selling virginity may result into.
Is selling virginity harmful or beneficial? Does technology have a significant role in this? How much influence do ethics have on virginity auctioning if people are truly the owner of their own selves? How do we stop it? The advancement of technology and the advent of the internet turned capitalization upside down, especially in the context of making virginity available for auction. But it can be conceded that the current auctioning of human valuables such as “virginity” has so long existed, and served as a precursor to its online trade.
At some point during the pinnacle of reality TV plastic surgery fad, which gave birth to television programs like Extreme Makeover, it has inspired a widespread awareness on plastic surgery by receiving a lot of media attention (Serano 393). Seen this way, technology has tremendously aided the proliferation and the growing number of auctioned virginity. Media and technology has made it easier for virginity sellers to trade their bodies. More individuals are resorting to technology and the internet to obtain more lucrative deals that they may not be able to acquire had technology and the internet not been in existence yet or if they prefer to use conventional ways of selling their virginity (Darlington and Brocchetto, “Teen Offers Virginity for Money”).
Various forms of social media offer virginity auctioneers a rather laid-back task in promoting their deals in public. They [virginity auctioneers] can upload videos on YouTube, create a post on Facebook or Twitter, and Instagram, or they can simply write a blog on a highly-trafficked website. With the increasing number of social media users, it makes virginity selling a lot uncomplicated and trouble-free; also, it attracts more bidders as social networking and blog sites represent a large number of people.
Virginity auctioning, regardless of the goodness of the end, is wrong. It is not only mistaken and immoral, but it also brings about negative consequences on the part of the seller. First, while it is fair to admit that “virginity” is still in existence today despite the liberality of our times, just like gender and race, acts that jeopardizes it has become more serious and rampant in the last decades. Virginity is such a sacred woman possession; and that losing it brings about an immense change to woman’s life.
Oftentimes, it is difficult to discount the relationship between virginity and religion in that predating Christian precepts provide a dominant notion over the concept of virginity. To auction virginity, by any means, may suggest a deviation from religiosity; thus, regards a seller an immoral person. This does not only give the seller an “eww” factor, but he or she may have to contend with a huge load of criticism, considering how our society is viewing virginity auction (Skyles 5). Second, there is no assured security in selling virginity online.
As Roach (350) believes that by and large, it is not efficient to use cadavers in firearm research such that they do not emit the actual physical responses as corpse do not actually respond. In the same thought, while auctioning can be carried out online, after the agreement has been made, there is still a physical contact involved. The seller and the winning bidder have to indulge in sex, which could lead to reduced sexual gratification in later life. Lastly, selling virginity can always be compared to prostitution.
Just because one sells his or her virginity online does not mean it is going to be interpreted differently from prostitution. Everyone knows how negatively remarked prostitution is even in this very liberal epoch; thus, leaving a virginity seller a constant subject of mockery from the public. In a nutshell, while virginity auctioning may have arose from a sound and justifiable motive, the predating stances of the society over selling a sacred valuable do not seem to change forever. Further, advancements in media and technology have created a new platform of selling virginity; thus, it is everyone’s responsibility to preclude the occurrence of virginity auction.
Works CitedAssociation of Practical and Professional Ethics. “Virgin Records”. iit.edu. Illinois Institute of Technology, 2010. Web. 22 January 2013. Darlington, Shasta and Marilia Brocchetto. “Teens Offer Virginity For Money”. cnn.com. CNN, 2 January 2013. Web. 22 January 2013. http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/02/world/americas/brazil-teen-sells-virginity/index.htmlRoach, Mary. “The Cadaver Who Joined the Army”. Emerging: Contemporary Reading for Writers. Ed. Barclay Barrios. Boston, MA: Bedford and St.
Martin's, 2009. 347-360. PrintSerano, Julia. “Before and After: Class and Body Transformation”. Emerging: Contemporary Reading for Writers. Ed. Barclay Barrios. Boston, MA: Bedford and St. Martin's, 2009. 391-397. PrintSkyles, Molly. “Virginity-selling Nevada Student Lacks Strong Morals, Work Ethic”. Other Voices 18 September 2008. Print. Tran, Diana. “Now Virginity is For Sale?”. Daily Sundial. Daily Sundial of the California State University at Northridge, 16 September 2008. Web. 22 January 2013.
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