Like A Virgin

One of the interesting things about living in this totally fucked up society of ours, is that every time you honestly think you've heard everything, something else rears its head to give us a shake. I heard the other day that a young woman in San Diego, going by the alias Natalie Dylan, is actually selling her virginity in an Internet auction. You may be wondering why, and apparently this is so she could be for college tuition -- partly because her step-dad stole the loan she'd taken out, if my understanding is right. ...Words just about fail me.

First of all, I wouldn't be at all surprised if this whole thing is just some sort of publicity stunt. I mean, for all the talk about this girl's privacy, she's publicized her photo, what city she lives in, and the name of the Nevada brothel where she claims on doing the deed. Not only that, but this whole thing was advertised on the ultimate in classy satellite radio, The Howard Stern Show. Yeah, this sounds like a very delicate and discreet affair to me.

Assuming that this is genuine though, I still have some things to say. I'm by no means a prude, and I know that intimacy isn't always as simple and straight forward as we like to believe. However, when a supposedly mature and educated woman elects to have her first sexual experience by selling herself to a total stranger, with God only knows what intentions and fantasies, my gut feeling is that this doesn't bode well for her. Take it from someone who's been pushed to near total lonliness his whole life -- sex should never be that impersonal, especially early on. Personally, my fear is that emotionally, she'll come out of this feeling like a shell. I'm not trying to preach for her soul -- I'm the last person who would be that arrogant -- but honestly, what will this do to her self-worth, in the long run?

There are already a great many women who, sadly, lose their virginity in less than ideal ways -- namely date rape or a full-out assault. So frankly, to voluntarily exploit yourself just seems astoundingly stupid to me. Now, I don't think that what she's doing can or should be condemned or penalized... but I wish someone had tried to talk some sense into her a long time ago. Enough said.