There are few things today that the world still holds precious, pure, innocent, chastise.

For the Muslim community, where Muslim rulers are usually as diabolical and deceitful as the worst foreign enemy, where ever mosque is monitored by intelligent officers or informants, where the TV, radio, media is inundated by racy secular sexuality from various corners of the world, a Muslim family has only itself where it holds to morality, decency, purity. And while children still hold these meanings embodied, even the onslaught from the media culture, ecspecially from the Western nations like France and America, in the Muslim world would have girls naked and parading about dancing to love songs, as if this represented some higher life.

All people have is their family. So the matter of virginity is more than just the girls' genitalia, and hence a fetish. Its about the purity and the remaining bastion of morality upheld by the family. And while there is no way to determine the virginity of the boy, his moral virtue is just as significant. Ask the Israeli Mossad, which has long used the threat of the rumor of immoral sexual conduct, premarital sex, to force Palestinian youth to succumb to Mossad intel gathering interests and reveal Hamas and Palestinian secrets in order to protect their family's honor.

Come on, you Israeli zionists on Slate should see this connection!!!!

So yes, virginity is significant to families in the Muslim world for both men and women. I have never heard of any Muslim or Arab man boast about sex or be outright about his sexual history except that he appear in the eyes of the community immoral, unfit, and dishonoring to his family, even if 'honor' is conditionally linked to the women of the family. So in this same matter, the woman must uphold the honor of the family too, and the practical manifestation of this is the ascertaining of the absolution of her virginity.

So I might enjoy the full force of your erudition, explain to me how and why virginity is pure.

"I have never heard of any Muslim or Arab man boast about sex"

Lying is immoral to many people, although I guess a little Al-Taqiyya never hurt anyone ...

You hit the issue on the bullseye: "the matter of virginity is more than just the girls' genitalia, and hence a fetish. Its about the purity and the remaining bastion of morality upheld by the family."

However, this DOES NOT change the fact that it is a terrible tragedy that young women must disproportionately bear the onus of upholding society's morals because their anatomy happens to be more amenable to virginity inspection.

Comrade2070:

So I might enjoy the full force of your erudition, explain to me how and why virginity is pure.

"I have never heard of any Muslim or Arab man boast about sex"

Lying is immoral to many people, although I guess a little Al-Taqiyya never hurt anyone ...

Comrade:

Taqiyya, while an interesting phenomenon and seemingly a fitting tool for ritewing character assasins to impinge any Muslim who speaks his mind or holds a position, it is actually NOT a practice of the vast majority of the Muslim world which is Sunni since it is a phenomenon of the repressed Shia culture. In fact, it was practiced primarily by Shia in the face of a threat which they percieved to jeopardize fundamentals of their life: family, honor, property, religion, life.

But I am not a Shia, nor do I find you a threat. And if you had the decency to quote my entire statement, you would find that I have qualified my statement consistent with reality: that no Muslim man boasts about his sexual exploits EXCEPT that he is depicted as immoral, dishonorable, unfitting for his family.

In fact, the only Arab and Muslim men whom I have come across as engaging in sexual relations usually with nonMuslim woman who were my colleagues inquired about Islam and Muslims. I openly informed these women that sexual conduct outside of marriage is considered immoral in Islam and the Muslim men engaging in it are unfit and of untrustworthy character. And the Muslim scholars and mentors that I have personally known taught me in this way.

I have no qualm in speaking the truth that Muslims are human beings that include those who do good those who do bad.