Different cultures treat the virginity before marriage differently. In fact, it is not an important concept in modern western society. Sex before marriage can help young women to have a healthier sexual identity in the future. On the contrary, there are a lot of cultures which place a very important value on virginity. In this article, the different attitudes towards this concept will be discussed.

Catholic Church

Catholic Church may probably be the most popular advocate of virginity. In fact, sex is totally prohibited before marriage in their teaching. Besides, women who can remain virgin in their whole life will have a higher status in the Catholic Church community. In the past, the Catholic Church will even have penalty on women who do not remain virgin before marriage.

Hindu Countries

In Hindu culture, chastity is an extremely important concept. The importance of virginity of course is emphasized before marriage. It can even carry after marriage. This is especially true if the husband of a woman dies. In this case the woman will become a widow and she will not be allowed to marry some others, because she is no longer a virgin.

There was even a practice called Sati in the ancient period. The widow would fling herself into the flames during the cremation of her husband. This was to show her faith to her husband. And of course the woman would not have any chance to marry others or have sex again because she would die. Of course Indian people nowadays will not have such practices, but they still treasure the value of virginity before marriage very much.

Islamic Cultures

Similar to the Hindu cultures, Islamic cultures place a very high value on pre-marital virginity. Women can only have sex after marriage under the umbrella of Islamic cultures. Sex before marriage is strictly prohibited. Besides sex before marriage, sexual relationship outside marriage is also prohibited.

The above are some of cultures which maintain the importance of pre-marital virginity. They are contrasting with modern Western culture. However, whether it is important or not should depend on personal choice. A woman should have their right to choose, she should have the freedom to choose whether she would like to maintain the virginity before marriage or not. It is important that a woman should have a total control on what she can do with their body and what she is willing to do with it.