Valuation of Women’s Virginity in the Philippines

Eric Julian Manalastas,Clarissa C. David 숙명여자대학교 아시아여성연구원 2018 Asian Women Vol.34 No.1

Despite increasing sexual liberalization, virginity and its loss persist as contested and highly gendered concepts in many parts of Asia. According to theories in feminism and sexuality studies, virginity may be socially constructed as either a gift, a stigma, an act of worship, or a process. This paper examines the socially constructed values and meanings ascribed to women’s virginity in the context of the Philippines. We synthesize findings from quantitative sources and original qualitative data from focus groups and interviews with Filipino women and men. Subsequent analysis of these findings indicated that a strong, widespread importance is ascribed to women’s virginity. While men endorsed female virginity as important prior to marriage, women reported even more restrictive views—including legitimizing beliefs linking virginity to women’s worth and to the avoidance of marital conflict. Filipina women expressed disapproval of sex for unmarried women, but less for unmarried men, and placed less importance on male virginity. The evidence indicates the presence of a sexual double standard and supports the argument that women themselves may endorse cultural belief systems that restrict female sexuality. Female virginity was dominantly constructed either as a gift (an embodied resource given by women to men) or, more often, as a prize to be claimed by men from women within the context of heterosexual marriage. Male virginity, in contrast, was largely viewed as a stigma. Virginity loss was not construed as a normative developmental process, nor, despite the predominance of Roman Catholicism in Philippine culture, a sacred act with religious underpinnings.

The Spiritual Desire of Women in the Late Middle Ages : Focused on the Female Saints in The Golden Legend

Lee, Pil-Eun 한국실천신학회 2020 신학과 실천 Vol.0 No.70

The purpose of this research is to explore the situation of women and their desire in the late Middle Ages by analyzing the narratives of the female saints. In order to explore women's perceptions of the social situation and women's mentality, The Golden Legend which is a collection of narratives of the saints would be analyzed. This book was edited by Jacobus de Voragine in the thirteenth century. This book was intended to educate future preacher and very popular book. This book was not created with the intention of the Jacobus, but was the narratives that has been transmitted orally, and would contain the social situation and desire of the people. In this book, 41 saints among 200 saints are the female, all the saints except 4 saints (3 male saints and one female saint) are ancient saints. And all female saints are virgins except 5 saints. In this book the female saints were noble origin, beauty, and wisdom. Because they rejected the love of pagan kings, they faced cruel torture and terrible martyrdom. The sign of religious person was virginity. Martyred female saint for preserving their virginity contributed Europe as a Christian world. Women was able to infiltrate the male religious realm through martyrdom. This view was strengthened by emphasizing that Jesus' lineage was the Virgin Mary, not Joseph. Various religious women's movements appeared in the thirteenth century, and the church authority looked at these women with suspicion. In this social situation, religious women would have tried to officially recognize for their activities. This desire of women could be identified with the situation when ancient female saints were martyred to protect virginity. In the thirteenth century, women were the mainstay of charity work. The female saints played an important role in spreading and defending Christianity in Europe by their terrible martyrdom. The women who were martyred in the early church were also heroes of the war. Through these efforts, women gained the freedom to live the life of charity they wanted. And the most representative figure of such female saints was the Virgin Mary, the mother of God.

저우쭤런(周作人)「정조론(貞操論)」에 의해 재조명된 근대 여성 담론 -신청년(新靑年)을 중심으로-

황선미 ( Sun Mi Hwang ) 한양대학교 동아시아문화연구소 2013 동아시아 문화연구 Vol.55 No.-

Wave of modernization of the late 19th century in China is calling for a major makeover of the entire Chinese society. The problem of women`s freedom, who previously had a subordinate relation to men, surfaced into a social discourse, led by young Chinese men based on issues such as women`s self-awareness, advancement into the society, and free-dating. This movement is leading to skepticism about marriage which is solidly based on traditional Confucian way of thinking, causing the entire root of China`s feudal society system to shake. ‘On Virginity’ of Zhou Zuo-ren published in the fourth and the fifth issues of “Xinqingnian”, a symbol of Chinese modernization, introduced the theoretical background of women`s freedom, acting as an initiator to arouse the public opinion in China during the times when the women`s problems were once again on the move, re-surfacing, and expending. ‘On Virginity’ is a translation from an article ‘Chastity is more important than morality’ written by Japanese theorist Yosano Akiko and after it was published in the “Xinqingnian”, had became an important debate topic in that era among prominent intellectuals such as Lu Xun and Hu Shi, leading to a breakout of headted debate similar to today`s online debate. This article would like to analyze the Zhou Zuo-ren`s ‘On Virginity’ and the female discourse surrounding this article centering the “Xinqingnian”, which is the main discussion forum for the problems of ‘On Virginity’.

조선후기 李順伊의 童貞觀 형성 과정

하태진 전북사학회 2010 전북사학 Vol.0 No.37

Yi Sun-i, a “Korean martyr’s jewel” due to her unique religious life and faith, her letter that she wrote when she was in prison was transcribed and read by the people. As she was still young, she decided to keep her virginity, and carried out her conviction in a unique way which was through a virgin couple. This life where in there is no origin was of course a good paragon for the believers. Many surrounding circumstances influenced how she lived with retaining her virginity. Firstly, we can't deny that Yi sun-i underwent primarily academic traditions and religious beliefs of her family. Both of her parents' families were Sirhak scholar families in the latter part of Joseon. Gwon Cheol-sin, an uncle on the mother's side, was a person who had an academic effect on her. Through learning of valuing much of practices, he emphasized on putting filial piety and neighborly love into practice, and such this idea made filial piety for God and practice of neighborly love be possible. The other uncle Gwon il-sin exercised an effect on the religious belief. He who became a Catholic due to Lee byeok's suggestion lead actively a religious life, baptizing his relatives. His enthusiastic faith was delivered to his children, and also it made Yi sun-i concentrate a life of faith. Moreover, the then catechism and biographies of saints were lavish in their praise for her virginity. Even though a physical pain follows, they taught the pain is nothing on the bless given at the heaven. Furthermore, the point that we should concentrate on is keeping a virginity means not only facing a physical hardship but also loving lord with all her body and heart. The thing that makes it possible is the eucharist. The eucharist is having Jesus Christ's body and drinking his blood. The love Jesus Christ gives his body to us is enough to change the one who have body of Christ. Because of the love toward Jesus Christ who loves her, the mind which are the devoting all about herself and being together with Jesus Christ arises through eucharist. She had well known a love toward herself by Jesus Christ. Because of certainity of her feeling, she get a pure mind devoting all about herself and being together with Jesus Christ through eucharist. Sun-i Yi decided to keep her virginity, because of an influence of her family and eucharist. For the reason of the faith appeared by various catechism and Jesus Christ, she had kept her virginity until her fine death.

제롬(Jerome)의 금욕주의와 결혼에 관한 연구

김경수(Kyung Soo Kim) 한국기독교학회 2012 한국기독교신학논총 Vol.79 No.-

St. Jerome is well known for his attacks on marriage. To understand why he developed his, for the most part, negative perspective on marriage we must take a broader view. Theology never takes place within a vacuum. Jerome`s understanding of marriage came out of the ascetic culture in his ages. If we look at his understanding of marriage, we realize that his understanding of marriage was not a biblical or theological development but a product of his devotion to a spiritual life in asceticism. Jerome`s ascetic ideal was to pursue virginity for a spiritual life and a practical concern for chastity. Nevertheless, his asceticism was not unchallenged. Helvidius, Jovinian, and Pelagius, known as Origenists to Jerome, supported anti-asceticism based on their creationism philosophy and claimed that the belief that virginity was superior to marriage as anti-creationism. Futhermore, their theology of creationism incorporated anti-manichaeanism as well as anti-asceticism into Christianity. Jovinian, especially, charged ascetic practices in Rome as Manichaeanism. In fact, his assertions seemed to be defending creationism and sincere Christianity while attacking Manichaean ascetic ideals. In this socio-religious context, Jerome needed to apologize his ascetic idea on virginity as asceticism. He developed his ideas on virginity as chastity, not only for a spiritual life, but also for a moral dimension against the Origenists, subordinating marriage to virginity. Through the controversies of Helvidius, Jovinian, and Pelagius, Jerome focused on a more negative perspective of marriage. Even though his denunciation of the charge of Manichaeanism seemed like an acceptance of creationism, Jerome never believed marriage to be equal to virginity in a spiritual life. Whenever Jerome developed his negative perspective on marriage, the backbone of the Origenist theology, namely, creationism always appeared in his controversies.

파르테노스와 네아니스 논쟁에 관한 성찰

권석우 국제언어인문학회 2022 인문언어 Vol.24 No.2

It has been pointed out that the Greek translation of “parthenos” from the Hebrew “almah” is a misguided one which does not capture the original meaning of virgin. Many Korean scholars like Gangnam Oh and Young-ok Kim as well as foreign scholars such as David Strauss, Bart Ehrmann, and John Spong have claimed and purported that the Greek translation of almah to parthenos was a partially incorrect one. When the notion of immaculate conception, or to put it rightly, when the natality of Jesus came into human consciousness, Christianity had to produce subsequent notions like the Trinity. Trinitarianism is but a derivation and extension of the false and entangled notion of virgin itself, the original meaning of which is “capable of giving births” or productive. The recent argument of Guilia Sissa (1990) indicates that in ancient Greece parthenos meant “the girl innocent of love and the unmarried mother... nothing but a designation of social position or ‘civil status,’” or someone “who seems to be one, outside of any legal cohabitation” (342, 347). Paul Wegner (2011) supports Sissa’s argument differently when he says that in Hebrew and its cognate Aramic language “bethula”(biological virgin in the modern sense) does not mean “virgo intacta,” or untouched virgin (473-476). Contrary to the arguments which advocate that the right word for Hebrew almah is neanis, not parthenos, the socio-textual investigation of the Bible itself shows us that parthenos is actually the right translation for almah, if we agree to the fact that parthenos is the one who cohabitated out of wedlock. The dichotomy of virgin and whore does not work any more, hence the need to demystify the Virgin cult and its exoteric femme fatale phenomenon. Now we can say there is no such thing as virgin or whore because all women have always been “virgin” (productive) regardless of whether sexually committed/experienced or not.

한국 근대소설과 연애담론 - 1920년대 「동아일보」 연재소설을 중심으로

최미진(Choi Mi-Jin),임주탁(Yim Ju-Tak) 한국문학회 2006 韓國文學論叢 Vol.44 No.-

  This paper aims at studying the characteristics of the discourse on love in the serial novels published in newspapers, including Na Do-hyang"s The Drama of Illusion, Lee Hui-cheol"s Eup-hyul-jo and Yeom Sang-seop"s What Did You Get?, in the mid-1920s, when the Dong-A Ilbo served as a venue for a public discourse. Taking a closer look at the discourse on women prevalent in the Dong-A Ilbo at the time revealed that the discourse on women"s education and the discourse on women"s liberation had been undergoing a series of conflicts. The discourse on love in the serial stories published in newspapers showed similar characteristics as well.<BR>  First of all, one thing the three novels have in common was that both the subject and the object of love were modern intellectuals. Modern knowledge meant conditions for love and qualifications to enjoy a modern culture. This has something to do with the reality of the time when the modern intellectuals emerged as a new group in power. It was problematic, however, that the subjects of love in the three novels embraced the internal coloniality in the process of accepting the modern knowledge.<BR>  Second, the three novels considered the modern love of the West to be a standard and idealized the western model. Here lies the conflicts between the western-style romantic love, described as a standard, and Ellen Key"s free love and Henrik Ibsen"s Noraism.<BR>  Third, it was virginity that was emphasized as a prerequisite for the subject of love, women. The loss of virginity in itself represented a fallen love, so those women were excluded from the objects of love. The novels took women"s moral degradation for granted, based on the sole and absolute criteria of virginity. This might be a result of putting the reality of the time in context, when the goal of education for women was to nurture a "wise mother and good wife."<BR>  Fourth, money-centric materialism served as a major variant in a love relationship. Along with the loss of women"s virginity, materialism was facing a critical discourse, because it ran counter to the innocence of love.<BR>  Fifth, the subjects of discourse in three of the two novels, except for Eup-hyul-jo, were male characters representing the viewpoints of authors. This might be because of the fact that it was men who wrote those three novels, but also because the male-centered attitude had a big influence on a love relationship. The novels had a modern thinking system of the "modernity/traditions or Japan/Joseon" in action, which was used as a logic to justify a modern love and a love marriage. They also had risks, however, of being exposed to or assimilated into the coloniality of the Japanese colonial rule, in that Japan was described to have a comparative advantage.

The Fall of Masculinity: Helena as a Transgressive and Dangerous Woman in William Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well

장성진(Sungjin Jang) 한국영미어문학회 2023 영미어문학 Vol.- No.148

This paper focuses on the healing scene and bed - trick in William Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, to prove Helena transgresses and overturns male - centered society. Critics have often understood Helena as an ideal female agent who physically and symbolically heals the endangered masculine world through her curing the king. However, going against this reading, this paper argues that Shakespeare does not simply portray Helena as a passive and obedient woman in male - oriented society. Instead, Helena seeks after her own desires and insistently subverts this male - centered society through her virginity. This subversion eventually leads to a flipping of gender roles when Helena makes Bertram a victim of her marriage plan. Thus, unlike previous readings of Helena, she should be understood as a subversive and transgressive character.

Fantasies of Conquest: Political Marriage and the Assimilation of the East in Cligés and Bevis of Hampton

허우리 영미문학연구회 2024 영미문학연구 Vol.46 No.-

Cligés by Chrétien de Troyes and Bevis of Hampton by an anonymous poet maintain the fantasy of Western conquest of the East through the marriage narrative. In both works, a disenfranchised knight’s quest to reclaim his birthright coincides with his marriage to a desirable lady, which ultimately serves to cement the subjugation of the East by the West. However, the inherent fragility of the Western superiority is betrayed by the persistent anxiety surrounding the courtship and marriage plot, especially the element of female sexuality and virginity. In Cligés, the unsettling presence of Tristan and Iseult as ominous precedents of Cligés and Fenice, combined with the final anecdote on the harem of Constantinople established as a response to Fenice’s adultery, dismantles the very narrative of Western triumph over the East as the cultural superior by emphasizing the illicit nature of Cligés’s love. On the other hand, Bevis of Hampton complicates the conventional gender dynamics of courtly romances by presenting Josian as an assertive and thus potentially transgressive figure, which is explained to be rooted in her Otherness as a Saracen woman. Although these women are complicit in their own subjugation by their prospective husbands, the courtship and marriage narrative surrounding them expose the unresolved paranoia about the feminine and the Eastern.

음란 소녀 탄생기—1960년대 대중 잡지 <명랑>과 하이틴 소설

이주라 대중서사학회 2018 대중서사연구 Vol.24 No.3

This paper examined the characteristics of sexual discourse surrounding teens in the mid-1960s, focusing on the popular 1960s magazine Myeongrang. This paper analyzed the social attention to disordered teenagers, the discourse about teenagers in popular magazines, the representation of teenagers, and finally the features of sexual discourse in adult men and their perception about sex and love of teenager girls. In the high-teen fictions, designed by Myeongrang, there were depictions of girls who voluntarily abandoned virginity. The girls were the target of criticism and the object of enlightenment in intellectual discourse; otherwise, in popular magazine discourse and novels, they were used as a means of men’s desire. They were the object to satisfy the instincts of the male public without guilt. Nonetheless, the girls in popular magazines longed for being the subject to voluntarily enjoy love and sex with their lovers. This desire began to form the basic element of romance, in which men who were reasonably protective of women and women who were passionately approached men made romantic love. In this paper, I analyzed the discourse of sexuality and the representation of teens who were defined as a disordered beings in the flow of the 1960s conservatism. Through this, the study revealed the perception and desire of the public that was suppressed in mainstream discourse in the mid-1960s, as well as the background of the formation of teen culture and novel that appeared in the 1970s.