History Main / VirginTension

* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' {{Fanon}} has an unhealthy obsession with Claire's honor. While the writers on coy on her status. Fans keep going on how her regeneration abilities might leave her with "perpetual virginity" no matter how many times she might have sex.

--> Joe Friday: "blah blah blah Connie Swail."
--> Pep Streebeck: "Wait a minute! Connie Swail?! Don't you mean ''the virgin'' Connie Swail?!"

Virginity in women is [[NatureAdoresAVirgin highly prized]]. The loss of virginity, on the other hand, is not. Even it's from rape or abuse or other things that aren't their fault. This distinction doesn't always get made, and the prospect of a heroine losing her pure VirginPower is often treated as on par with her dying (if not, indeed, AFateWorseThanDeath).

** The ''then'' virginal Hope Williams (she's a grandmother now, ''Days'' is a LongRunner) spent several months managing to avoid consummating her forced marriage to Larry Welch by [[RefugeInAudacity claiming she was]] [[NoPreggerSex pregnant]] by her true love Bo Brady. Needless to say when Bo found out about the lengths Hope was going to in order to avoid Larry's advances, [[MyGirlIsNotASlut he was thrilled]]. After Bo and Hope had a secret getaway to New Orleans behind Larry's back [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean there was no more tension]].

* Daytime Soaps are fond of this trope, especially ''DaysOfOurLives''. The ''then'' virginal Hope Williams (she's a grandmother now, ''Days'' is a LongRunner) spent several months managing to avoid consummating her forced marriage to Larry Welch by [[RefugeInAudacity claiming she was]] [[NoPreggerSex pregnant]] by her true love Bo Brady. Needless to say when Bo found out about the lengths Hope was going to in order to avoid Larry's advances, he was [[MyGirlIsNotASlut thrilled]].

* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' {{Fanon}} has an unhealthy obsession with Claire's [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean honor]]. While the writers on coy on her status. Fans keep going on how her regeneration abilities might leave her with "perpetual virginity" no matter how many times she might have sex.

* Somewhat interesting used in David Eddings' ''The Tamuli'', when we get the backstory of Mirtai... a member of the ProudWarriorRace, the Atans. She was kidnapped by Arjuni slavers when she was just a child, and spent virtually her entire life as a slave - a beautiful, female, golden-skinned slave. However, she sheer ammount of Badass InTheBlood she has, has ensured that anyone who tried to take advantage of her wound up messily dead. As such, she's still a virgin, and intends to remain that way 'till she's married. As she tells her paramour, Kring, when he suggests making an 'early start', "I've killed too many people in defense of my virtue to waste it on 'almost married'."
* Candi Levens of the CiemWebcomicSeries is pointed out explicitly to not lose her virginity until she meets Denny Levens, [[DesignatedVictim no matter how many men have tried to rape her]]. The books take it to the next level, where a SuperSoldier ''and'' [[WeirdnessMagnet a Vampire]] both force themselves on her; but she is always able to fight them off before they can rupture her hymen.
** Her escape efforts usually lead to her assailants [[KarmicDeath getting themselves killed somehow]], hence why she vows to be a little more careful when she becomes Ciem about not racking up too large a body count. (But even when she doesn't actively put them in the line of fire, [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption her enemies often die by their own stupidity anyway]].)
* Justified in ''StationeryVoyagers: Final Hope''. Laura's virginity is the only thing that permits her to [[VideoGameLives reincarnate so often]]. She is actually relieved to be killed in the line of duty rather than captured and detained, specifically because it increases her odds of returning that her enemies don't have time to consider rape as an option.
* Marina in ''[[WilliamShakespeare Pericles]]'' is captured by slavers and sold to a brothel, and manages to remain a virgin as everyone who meets her is [[PuritySue instantly reformed by the sheer force of her goodness]].
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' {{Fanon}} has an unhealthy obsession with Claire's [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean honor]]. While the writers on coy on her status. Fans keep going on how her regeneration abilities might leave her with "perpetual virginity" no matter how many times she might have sex.

* The number of virgin widows in historical romance novels is truly mind-boggling.
* ''TheInheritanceCycle'' never mentions the word "rape," but still informs readers that Arya was ''not'' taken advantage of while captured by the Empire, because she used her magic to fight the men off/make them impotent. Even though she was unconscious. Or...something.
* In FushigiYuugi, Miaka ends up knocked out, with the villain expressing his plans to rape her at the time. When she wakes up, [[DefiledForever she assumes the worst,]] especially since it would mean that she [[VirginPower can't summon Suzaku anymore...]]thankfully, [[NearRapeExperience nothing actually happened to her.]]
* Similar to {{Heroes}}, Jessica from {{TrueBlood}} was turned into a vampire (against her will) and everyday returns to the status she was turned as. It is explicit (and a minor plot point) that she "re-virginizes" after each time. Like Prometheus, this is a bad thing for her, as sex with her boyfriend will always be painful.

<<|SexTropes|>>

* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' {{Fanon}} has an unhealthy obsession with Claire's [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean honour]]. While the writers on coy on her status. Fans keep going on how her regeneration abilities might leave her with "perpetual virginity" no matter how many times she might have sex.

* ''{{Film/Taken}}''. Kim's been kidnapped by all kinds of sex traders, but remains a virgin. The movie goes out of its way to point out how she's "certified pure."

** To be fair she was being trained to be a prostitute and had not started yet.

--> Pep Streebeck: "Wait a minute! Connie Swail?! Don't you mean ''the virgin'' Connie Swail?!

** Imagine the RoaringRampageOfRevenge her father would have taken if she'd ''lost'' her "purity" during her ordeal...
** To be fair, she was worth more to the slavers as a virgin than if they would have had their fun with her first.
* ''SlumdogMillionaire'' - Latika becomes a prostitute - but see, they mention she's still a virgin!
** Technically, Latika was being groomed by the sex industry ''because'' she was a virgin. When Jamal tries to rescue her, he's told: "Do you know how much this little virgin is worth?"
** The [[MeaningfulName name]] [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean Cherry]] should have clued you in.
** It's worth nothing, however that [[spoiler:Latika's rescue, while successful, then leads to her being traded to another mob boss by Selim as a trophy wife so, by the time she and Jamal meet again she is most emphatically ''not'' a virgin anymore]]. So sort of a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]].
** [[spoiler:Not to mention that it's heavily implied that Selim himself was actually the culprit...]]
* Somewhat interesting used in David Eddings' ''The Tamuli'', when we get the backstory of Mirtai... a member of the ProudWarriorRace, the Atans. She was kidnapped by Arjuni slavers when she was just a child, and spent virtually her entire life as a slave - a beautiful, female, golden-skinned slave. However, she sheer ammount of Badass InTheBlood she has, has ensured that anyone who tried to take advantage of her wound up messily dead. As such, she's still a virgin, and intends to remain that way 'till she's married. As she tells her paramour, Kring, when he suggests making an 'early start', "I've killed too many people in defence of my virtue to waste it on 'almost married'."

* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' {{Fanon}} has an unhealthy obsession with Claire's [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean honour]]. While the writers on coy on her status. Fans keep go on how her regeneration abilities might leave her with "perpetual virginity" no matter how many times she might have sex.
** Surely that would make her a ''fake'' virgin after her first time.
*** You poor innocent soul. Some people have fetishes.
** Newsflash for the fans, not having a hymen doesn't make you not-a-virgin; females can break their hymen without penetration (sports, gymnastics, falling down stairs). And get this, virginity fetishists: you can have a hymen, and not be a virgin; sometimes the tissue doesn't break during sex (suckers!).

* Sort of used in ''Stealing Beauty''.

** Of course, for a possible subversion, it never says she was a virgin ''before'' being captured. (Faolin, anyone?)

* Parodied in the 1987 film of ''{{Dragnet}}'' where '''everyone''' always refers to Connie Swail as "the virgin Connie Swail". [[spoiler: Except right at the end after she's spent an evening with Joe Friday.

--> Pep Streebeck: "Wait a minute! Connie Swail?! Don't you mean ''the virgin'' Connie Swail?!]]

** Newsflash for the fans, not having a hymen doesn't make you not-a-virgin; females can break their hymen without penetration (sports, gymnastics, falling down stairs). And get this, virginity fetishists: you can have a hymen, and not be virgin; sometimes the tissue doesn't break during sex (suckers!).
* Parodied in the 1987 film of ''{{Dragnet}}'' where '''everyone''' refers to Connie Swayle as "The virgin Connie Swayle". [[spoiler: Except right at the end after she's spent an evening with Joe Friday]]

** The [[MeaningfulName name]] [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean Cherry]] should've clued you in
** It's worth nothing, however that [[spoiler:Latika's rescue, while successful, then leads to her being traded to another mob boss by Selim as a trophy wife so, by the time she and Jamal meet again she is most emphatically ''not'' a virgin anymore]]. So sort of a [[SubvertedTrope Subversion]].
** [[spoiler:Not to meantion that it's heavily implied that Selim himself was actually the deverginizing culprite...]]

Compare TheirFirstTime, VirginPower, NatureAbhorsAVirgin.

* ''{{Taken}}''. Kim's been kidnapped by all kinds of sex traders, but remains a virgin. The movie goes out of its way to point out how she's "certified pure."