Virginal Facades

Abstract

Charged with personal, societal and legal significance, the hymen, as a fold of flesh, has the power to rule the sexual identities of unmarried women in Turkey. This article examines the forms and associated meanings of contemporary challenges to virginity rules among educationally advantaged, upwardly mobile young women. The article demonstrates that in the process of negotiating often contradictory expectations of their sexual behavior, young women cultivate purposefully ambiguous identities related to their state of virginhood. The author calls these identities ' virginal facades' and explores their complex and contradictory implications. The author highlights an important normative shift from a focus on the physical reality of virginity to a focus on the moral expression of virginity, and emphasizes the intricate connection between social class and women's sexuality experienced by some young women as sexual guilt.

7. Union formation and partner choice

“…Turkey and Morocco differ markedly when it comes to the timing of union formation. This is the case despite the countries' common heritage of a 'culture of honour and shame' (Peristiany 1965) that makes women's premarital virginity a matter of the family's reputation (Parla 2001;Ozyegin 2009) and despite the fact that marriage is practically universal. According to the 2003 Turkish Demographic and Health Survey, the median age of first-time marriage among women aged 25-29 was 21, while for women aged 45-49 it was nineteen; this indicates a two-year increase occurred over twenty years.…”

An examination of different types of parental control on the well‐being of Turkish emerging adults

“…A study examining the initial sexual intercourse experiences of women found that perceived sexual coercion and control of the partner are associated with more physical pain during intercourse and less sexual satisfaction (Wang & Ho, 2011). In addition, young, highly educated, and unmarried individuals, especially those with sexually conservative parents, report problems with enjoying sexual intercourse because they perceive it as a betrayal to their parents (zyegin, 2009). From the SDT perspective, perceived parental sexual control may limit the fulfillment of emerging adults' autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs and have adverse implications for youth's sexual well‐being.…”

“…Yet Turkish families maintain gender hierarchy (where men's roles are providing for the family and protecting its dignity, and women's role is dedicating themselves to the care of family members) and generational hierarchy (parents over children; Bolak‐Boratav et al, 2017; Parla et al, 2001) in family structure and continue to condemn premarital sex, especially for single adult women (Özyegin, 2009). In addition, most Turkish emerging adults reside with their parents until they marry (Turkey Statistical Institute, 2020), and only 2.8% of the general population live with roommates.…”

Juvenile Sex Offenders in Turkey: A Study on Offense Characteristics, Risk Factors, and the Differences between Juvenile Sex Offenders and Other Juvenile Offenders

“…Since the 1980s, rapid and pervasive cultural and economic change has shaken the fixity of national, class, religious, gender, and sexual identities in Turkey. The premarital sexual relationship between male and female youth is still a strict taboo, and the virginity of girls is still highly praised in Turkish society (Ozyegin, 2009). The society idealizes female chastity and the symbolic value of virginity as an indicator of honor and purity for females that relates to the honor of family, parents, and the nation in an order (Cindoglu, 1997).…”