Virgin Envy: The Cultural (In)Significance of the Hymen (The Exquisite Corpse, 3)

Virgin Envy sets out to re-conceive the ways that we describe and relate to virginity as a cultural construct. Who is a virgin? How do we lose our virginities? What if we regret our "first time"? Contributors to Virgin Envy everything from medieval romance to Bollywood films to Twilight and True Blood, to destabilize the many assumptions about sexual purity. In particular, the hymen is called into question. How is virginity determined for those without a hymen? How do we account for the ways in which the "geography of the hymen" has changed over the course of history? And what about male and queer virginity? Issues of commodification, postcoloniality, and religious diversity are also addressed. "An ambitious, wide-ranging, and eclectic collection." Corrinne Harol, Enlightened Virginity in Eighteenth-Century Literature Jonathan Allan is Canada Research Chair in Queer Theory and Assistant Professor of Gender and Women's Studies and English and Creative Writing at Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba. He is the author of Reading from Behind: A Cultural Analysis of the Anus. Cristina Santos is an Associate Professor at Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario. Her current research investigates the monstrous depictions of women as aberrations of feminine nature vis- -vis the socio-culturally proscribed norm. Publications include Defiant Deviance: The Irreality of Reality in the Cultural Imaginary; The Monster Imagined: Humanity's Re-Creation of Monsters and Monstrosity; and Monstrous Deviations in Literature and the Arts. Adriana Spahr received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. She is an Associate Professor at the Department of Humanities at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta. She explores the interdisciplinary connections between cultural and political components in Latin American literature, especially in Argentina. Her last co-authored book, Madre de Mendoza/Mother of Mendoza, reflects her current research interest in testimonial literature. Virgin Envy Sets Out To Reconceive The Ways We Relate To Virginity As A Cultural Construct. Who Is A Virgin? How Do We Lose Our Virginities? What If We Regret Our First Time? Contributors To Virgin Envy Examine Everything From The Medieval Romance To Bollywood Films To True Blood And Twilight, To Destabilize The Many Certainties About Sexual Purity. In Particular, The Hymen Is Called Into Question. How Is Virginity Determined For Those Without A Hymen? How Do We Account For The Ways In Which The Geography Of The Hymen Has Changed Over The Course Of History? And What About Male And Queer Virginity? Issues Of Commodification, Postcoloniality, And Religious Diversity Are Also Addressed.-- Introduction: Our Tantalizing Double: Envious Virgins, Envying Virgins, Virgin Envy / Jonathan A. Allan, Cristina Santos, And Adriana Spahr -- I Will Cut Myself And Smear Blood On The Sheet: Testing Virginity In Medieval And Modern Orientalist Romance / My Burge -- Between Pleasure And Pain: The Textual Politics Of The Hymen / Jodi Mcalister -- The Politics Of Virginity And Abstinence In The Twilight Saga / Jonathan A. Allan And Cristina Santos -- Lady Of Perpetual Virginity: Jessica's Presence In True Blood / Janice Zehentbauer And Cristina Santos -- The Queer Saint: Male Virginity In Derek Jarman's Sebastiane / Kevin Mcguinness -- Troping Boyishness, Effeminacy, And Masculine Queer Virginity: Abdellah Taïa And Eyet-chékib Djaziri / Gibson Ncube -- Bollywood Virgins: Diachronic Flirtations With Indian Womanhood / Asma Sayed -- The Policing Of Viragos And Other Fuckable Bodies: Virginity As Performance In Latin America / Tracy Crowe Morey And Adriana Spahr. Jonathan A. Allan, Cristina Santos, And Adriana Spahr, Eds. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Issued Also In Electronic Format. Virginity is of concern here, that is its utter messiness. At once valuable and detrimental, normative and deviant, undesirable and enviable. Virginity and its loss hold tremendous cultural significance. For many, female virginity is still a universally accepted condition, something that is somehow bound to the hymen, whereas male virginity is almost as elusive as the G-spot: we know it's there, it's just we have a harder time finding it. Of course boys are virgins, queers are virgins, some people reclaim their virginities, and others reject virginity from the get go. So what if we agree to forget the hymen all together? Might we start to see the instability of terms like untouched, pure, or innocent? Might we question the act of sex, the very notion of relational sexuality? After all, for many people it is the sexual acts they don't do, or don't want to do, that carry the most abundant emotional clout. Virgin Envy is a collection of essays that look past the vestal virgins and beyond Joan of Arc. From medieval to present-day literature, the output of HBO, Bollywood, and the films of Abdellah Taïa or Derek Jarman to the virginity testing of politically active women in Tahrir Square, the writers here explore the concept of virginity in today's world to show that ultimately virginity is a site around which our most basic beliefs about sexuality are confronted, and from which we can come to understand some of our most basic anxieties, paranoias, fears, and desires. Introduction: "Our Tantalizing Double": Envious Virgins, Envying Virgins, Virgin Envy - Jonathan A. Allan, Cristina Santos, and Adriana SpahrPart I: Too Much Pain for Such Little Reward1. "I Will Cut Myself and Smear Blood on the Sheet": Testing Virginity in Medieval and Modern Romance - Amy Burge2. Between Pleasure and Pain: The Textual Politics of the Hymen - Jodi McAlisterPart II: Blood, Blood, Blood ... and More Blood3. The Politics of Virginity and Abstinence in the Twilight Saga - Jonathan A. Allan and Cristina Santos4. Lady of Perpetual Virginity: Jessica's Presence in True Blood - Janice Zehentbauer and Cristina SantosPart III: Men Be Virgins Too: Queering Virginity5. The Queer Saint: Male Virginity in Derek Jarman's Sebastiane - Kevin McGuiness6. Troping Boyishness, Effeminacy, and Masculine Queer Virginity: Abdellah Taia and Eyet-Chekib Djaziri - Gibson Ncube Part IV: F*ck: They Entrapped Us in Social Issues and Politics7. Bollywood Virgins: Diachronic Flirtations With Indian Womanhood - Asma Sayed8. The Policing of Viragos and Other "Fuckable"' Bodies: Virginity as Performance in Latin America - Tracy Crowe Morey and Adriana Spahr Introduction : "Our tantalizing double" : envious virgins, envying virgins, virgin envy / Jonathan A. Allan, Cristina Santos, and Adriana Spahr "I will cut myself and smear blood on the sheet" : testing virginity in medieval and modern Orientalist romance / Amy Burge Between pleasure and pain : the textual politics of the hymen / Jodi McAlister The politics of virginity and abstinence in the Twilight saga / Jonathan A. Allan and Cristina Santos Lady of perpetual virginity : Jessica's presence in True blood / Janice Zehentbauer and Cristina Santos The queer saint : male virginity in Derek Jarman's Sebastiane / Kevin McGuiness Troping boyishness, effeminacy, and masculine queer virginity : Abdellah Taïa and Eyet-Chékib Djaziri / Gibson Ncube Bollywood virgins : diachronic flirtations with Indian womanhood / Asma Sayed The policing of viragos and other "fuckable" bodies : virginity as performance in Latin America / Tracy Crowe Morey and Adriana Spahr.