DEEP END: SOFTER SOFTEST

collage made by me, original photo credit to andy warhol

Virginity is a strange concept, mainly because at this point no one really knows what it means any more. That sounds like quite a vague description but ask anyone what they think virginity means and I can bet that not everyone will have the same idea of what exactly virginity is. It's a highly personal subject to be wholly honest which means it can be interpreted in various ways but that in turn can become quiet problematic.

You see the problem with virginity at the moment is that most people aren't getting that virginity is a concept. And the definition of concept is an abstract idea. This means that virginity can actually mean a whole range of things and doesn't even have to have one sole definition. But this isn't about defining virginity as such, it's more about what that concept of virginity has become, and it's actually become an oppressive social construct really. 

AIN'T I A WOMAN?

Illustrated by Tyler Feder

In 1851 Sojourner Truth gave the now famous 'Ain't I A Woman' speech, in which she questioned both the maltreatment of women and highlighted the significance of the maltreatment of black women within this. Truth raised the point that the definition of a 'woman' at the time somehow managed to overlook her because of her race; that she, unlike white women at the time, was not a recipient of courteous, gentlemanly treatment that women so rightly 'deserved' as the society she lived had decided that her dark skin made her less of a woman. Over 150 years later and the same issues still stand, women of all different races, genders, sexualities and even abilities are discriminated against accordingly and still ask, "Ain't I a woman?"