“I’ve always found the idea of 'saving' your virginity intriguing: it’s not as if we’re packing our Saran-wrapped hymens away in the freezer, after all, or pasting them in scrapbooks. But packed-away virginities aside, the interesting — and dangerous — idea at play here is that of 'morality.” When young women are taught about morality, there’s not often talk of compassion, kindness, courage, or integrity. There is, however, a lot of talk about hymens (though the preferred words are undoubtedly more refined — think 'virginity' and 'chastity'): if we have them, when we’ll lose them, and under what circumstances we’ll be rid of them.”

American feminist writer

Jessica Valenti is an American feminist writer. She co-founded the blog Feministing and wrote for it from 2004 to 2011. She has 91 quotes on the site. Valenti is the author of six books, including Full Frontal Feminism, The Purity Myth, Why Have Kids?, and Sex Object: A Memoir. She has also co-edited Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power, A World Without Rape, and Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change the World. From 2014 to 2018, she was a columnist for The Guardian, and she now runs the Abortion, Every Day newsletter. Michelle Goldberg described her as “one of the most successful and visible feminists of her generation.”