I’ve been asking people about this very thing for so many years now, and I’ve seen a lot of other people try it with mixed results. It’s tough to get strangers to talk honestly about sex on camera, but Ilana is really sweet and funny and some of the stories are really touching. I shouldn’t have been surprised given her other work, most lately Broad City, the show she created with Abbi Jacobson. It started as a web series about two young and underemployed women in NYC, and was picked up by Comedy Central, with Amy Poehler Exec Producing! If you haven’t sampled it yet, do it now.
***
There’s a photo series all over the internet right now by Swedish photographer David Magnusson called Purity. Everyone is freaking out about how creepy they are. So, yes, purity ball photos can sometimes look incestuous, but know why they’re really creepy? They represent a culture where men own these girls’ sexuality, purity balls fund CPCs, and their freak-show quality distracts us from all the sexuality bs happening in the rest of the world. Yes, I’m writing about it, so stay tuned.
PS Judy actually spotted this project last year and loved it so much she used it as part of her story “How I went from Purity Pledger to Queer Radical Feminist, thanks to two years of ‘Cotillion’ Classes.” Above is the image we used (our favorite) which for some reason they’re not including in the galleries online.
***
Juliana at Feministing wrote a lovely piece on our film and we especially loved the fact that she watched it with her little sis! Here are two excerpts that meant a lot to us, because they spoke to our goals for the film:
I have a little sister and, like any good feminist, I spend a lot of time making sure that she knows that her worth extends beyond her beauty, her body, and her sexuality. As she is still a teenager, a big topic in her life and that of her peers lately has been virginity. Personally, I don’t think that my sexuality or “virginity” is an object to lose, or give away, and I don’t want her to think that either. That’s why I was so excited to watch How to Lose Your Virginity with her…
..In spite of the fascinating and telling historical context, the true triumph of How to Lose Your Virginity is in how relatable it is. The first time I had sex, I was surprised at how anti-climactic the whole thing was. Watching this film, it was touching to see my experience mirrored back at me.”
I think we need to start a See It With Your Sister campaign, pronto!
***
Over at Policy Mic, we got another shout-out in a story called 17 Lies We Need to Stop Teaching Girls About Sex, with tackles everything from virginity and hymen myths to period sex to women who watch porn (and illustrated by Ms Ilana Glazer) It warms my mythbusting heart that this exists, so I was pretty shocked at the vehemence with with people were challenging it in the comments.
One of the biggest points of contention was myth #1 “Virginity exists” and hoo boy did people have problems with that one! There were several comments to the effect of ‘virginity does too exist and it’s real and everyone knows what it is.’ Well, everyone does NOT know what it is, and in fact the lack of any concrete definition is what’s confused and terrorized women forever (the simple fact that many women don’t bleed on penetration has done untold damage)
But for the record, we do think virginity exists, just not in the ‘one-magic-moment-when-the-penis-goes-into-the-vagina” way. It exists in many forms, with each new experience and new partner. What doesn’t and shouldn’t exist is one specific virginity that’s used to categorize, judge and police people (mostly women) based on their sexual choices. That’s bullshit. And truth be told, that’s pretty much what Policy Mic was saying as well, it’s just that heading that got people so out of joint.
***
Jaclyn Friedman wrote a rather chilling but important article on a new way to select colleges– check the campus rape statistics:
Those precious few who ask at all tend to check a school’s reporting numbers, assuming that a low rate of rapes reported on a campus is a good sign. But most of the time the reverse is true: every campus has a rape problem – the ones where students feel comfortable reporting are actually safer campuses.
***
Virginity auctioneer Elizabeth Raine, who I wrote about here and here, has decided to show people what she looks like. She was initially concerned about getting kicked out of her med school if people found out who she was, but now says: “I actually didn’t like the anonymity. People mistake it for shame.” Her top official bid is $550,000 and her auction ends May 7th.You can see more photos and learn more about her at her site.
I really enjoyed deconstructing virginity myths with Liz in our Nerve.com interview, and I hope this whole process doesn’t fuck her up. I don’t mean because of the sex (although I hope that goes OK as well), but because of the crude attention and News of the Weird nature of virginity auctions.
Found some Virginity in the News? Be a Just The Tipster and let us know! Email us, or post to twitter with @virginitymovie in your message.
