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Throughout history and in all stages of culture great emphasis has been laid on virginity. Sometimes a high positive value is set upon it as when the husband insists on his wife coming to him as a virgin, although, paradoxically, amongst certain peoples he must not have intercourse with the virgin bride, defloration and the first act of coitus being ritually performed by another. At other times virginity possesses what might be called a negative value; considerations of space will not allow this aspect to be dealt with here, but it is probably correct to say that the indifference to virginity where it is found, is more apparent than real.
Where a positive appreciation exists, at first glance the problem may seem simple; women are regarded as in some sense property and so must enter marriage undamaged, consequently the forces of sexual selection cause a woman to prize her virginity. But such a solution is quite unsatisfactory, for it overlooks two important elements: in the first place it does not explain the insistence on ritual defloration, and secondly, it ignores the fact that woman has a strong feminine attitude to virginity which is not a mere reflection of man's views upon it.
It is my aim in this article to examine as far as possible the deeper motives that underlie the attitude to virginity of both men and women. The material for this study can be gathered from three sources: current everyday life; psycho-analysis; and the field of primitive cultures.
The information derived from this last source is particularly illuminating. Like the material gathered from psychotic patients it is more direct and obvious than that drawn from the first sources. But unfortunately, instead of having the direct opinion of the natives we have only reports and interpretations from white observers. These observations are not wholly reliable, for even where they are not biassed to fit some pet theory, they are always affected by the European culture and point of view of the o