Donate
Health & Sexuality Info

virginity

Losing your virginity, or “popping your cherry,” is a term for a person’s first sexual experience. Virginity is highly prized in shame-based, patriarchal cultures in which the “sexual purity” of women and girls is held to reflect the honor of the family.

Explore virginity content
Clear All
Resources

Addressing the Myth of the Hymen

Art with differently colored vulvas of different sizes and shapes

There's no scientific evidence that the vaginal corona (hymen) is proof of virginity but cultures around the world keep insisting that it is.

Resources

Impurity Culture: Surviving Virginity

A teacup and saucer on a table

Purity culture spreads a lot of falsehoods about virginity. What is true and what isn't?

Resources

Going Solo: The Basics of Masturbation

A counter with a mirror, model hand, sex toys, and flowers

Dispelling the myths, shame, and misunderstandings, here are the essentials of solo sex -- how (and why) to masturbate pleasurably and safely.

Resources

My Corona: The Hymen & the Myths That Surround It

A white background with pink images of different vaginal coronas

This Scarleteen article provides an overview of the vaginal corona (also known as the hymen) and answers questions about its relationship to virginity.

Resources

What Exactly is a Hymen?

Nine drawings of different types of hymens on top of a pink background.

What is the hymen and why is it important to so many of us?

Resources

Renaming the Hymen: The Vaginal Corona

Types of vaginal coronas

The hymen is also called the vaginal corona, a term used in an attempt to dispel many of the myths surrounding hymens.