History Main / VirginTension

* A rather sympathetic, twisted male version in ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame.'' Frollo, the priest, keeps it as a point of pride that he's been chaste all his life and has an intense fear of women. He winds up feeling intense sexual desire for the first time in his thirties when meeting Esmeralda. Since Esmeralda has no desire to be with him (she finds his advances disgusting), the Virgin Tension is within Frollo himself; can he give into temptation, which to him is deeply sinful, or get Esmeralda arrested to remove the source of temptation. He goes back and forth for a while, finally [[spoiler: Offering her a chance to sleep with him in exchange for freedom, then turning her in to the cops when she says no. When she's hung on the gallows, he lets out an EvilLaugh (either out of revenge for her rejecting him or relief the source of temptation is out of his life) and Quasimodo shoves him off the cathedral in anger.]]

* ''Film/SlumdogMillionaire'': Latika becomes a prostitute, but her virginity is emphasized when Jamal tries to rescue her and is told, "Do you know how much this little virgin is worth?" {{Justified}} as she is being trained to be a prostitute and has not started yet. They were probably planning to sell off her virginity for a high price. [[spoiler: {{Subverted}} later, when (it is heavily implied that) Salim rapes her.

* This is obviously a pretty big concern in Jaime Lannister's mind in ASongOfIceAndFire when he [[spoiler: goes back to rescue Brienne from the Bloody Mummers]]. It's a bit unclear whether he's specifically worried about her getting deflowered or just, you know, raped in general (probably both), but the fact that she's a virgin does make it easier for him to figure out whether or not what he worried about had actually happened.

* ''SlumdogMillionaire'' - Latika becomes a prostitute - but see, they mention she's still a virgin! When Jamal tries to rescue her, he's told: "Do you know how much this little virgin is worth?"
** To be fair she was being trained to be a prostitute and had not started yet. They were probably planning to sell off her virginity for a high price.
** Also subverted later, when (it is heavily implied that) [[spoiler: Salim rapes her.]]

* Daytime Soaps are fond of this trope, especially ''DaysOfOurLives''.

** In any case, "virgin" means "never had sex", so neither Claire from ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' nor Jessica from ''Series/TrueBlood'' are virgins regardless of their hymens. Some actual virgins get their hymens surgically removed, and some kinky non-virgins (or women trying to avoid punishment by their culture for supposedly not being virgins) have them reconstructed. The hymen can also be broken via an injury (such as falling off a bike) and most girls this happens to never realize it. For the record, contrary to popular belief, the hymen is not actually something that is supposed to be broken, but rather a membrane that needs to be stretched out for a woman to have comfortable sex. However, because most people don't realize there are precautions you can take, stretching the hymen often involves painful tearing and bleeding, creating the illusion that damaging the hymen is a necessary evil for every woman's first time.

** In any case, "virgin" means "never had sex", so neither Claire from ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' nor Jessica from 'Series/TrueBlood'' are virgins regardless of their hymens. Some actual virgins get their hymens surgically removed, and some kinky non-virgins (or women trying to avoid punishment by their culture for supposedly not being virgins) have them reconstructed. The hymen can also be broken via an injury (such as falling off a bike) and most girls this happens to never realize it. For the record, contrary to popular belief, the hymen is not actually something that is supposed to be broken, but rather a membrane that needs to be stretched out for a woman to have comfortable sex. However, because most people don't realize there are precautions you can take, stretching the hymen often involves painful tearing and bleeding, creating the illusion that damaging the hymen is a necessary evil for every woman's first time.

** In any case, "virgin" means "never had sex", so neither Claire from ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' nor Jessica from 'Series/TrueBlood'' are virgins regardless of their hymens. Some actual virgins get their hymens surgically removed so as to avoid a painful first time, and some kinky non-virgins (or women trying to avoid punishment by their culture for supposedly not being virgins) have them reconstructed. The hymen can be destroyed via an injury (such as falling off a bike) and most girls this happens to never realize it.
*** For the record, contrary to popular belief, the hymen is not actually something that is supposed to be "destroyed", but rather a membrane that needs to be stretched out for a woman to have comfortable sex. Because most people don't realize there are precautions you can take, stretching the hymen often involves painful tearing and bleeding, creating the illusion that damaging the hymen is a necessary evil for every woman's first time.

** In any case, "virgin" means "never had sex", so neither of those characters are virgins regardless of their hymens. Some actual virgins get their hymens surgically removed so as to avoid a painful first time, and some kinky non-virgins (or women trying to avoid punishment by their culture for not being virgins) have them reconstructed.
** The hymen can also be destroyed via an injury (such as falling off a bike) and most girls this happens to never realize it.
** Both of these examples are somewhat bizarre, as - contrary to popular belief - the hymen is not actually something that is supposed to be "destroyed", but rather a membrane that needs to be stretched out for a woman to have comfortable sex. Because most people don't realize there are precautions you can take, stretching the hymen often involves painful tearing and bleeding, creating the illusion that damaging the hymen is a necessary evil for every woman's first time. FridgeLogic comes into play when you wonder why an immortal vampire never thinks to use lube and/or ask her boyfriend to take it slow, methods of preventing hymen tear that have existed for years.

** Carrie Brady was the victim of an AttemptedRape by amasked man on the night that she was supposed to lose her virginity to her true love Austin. One of the suspects in Carrie's attack was her ex boyfriend, Lucas Roberts, who would've been successful in his earlier attempt to bed Carrie had not his true motives for dating her been exposed. However, the culprit turned out to be Alan, another of Carrie's rejected suitors. Notably, once Carrie finally did lose her virginity to Austin, Alan lost interest and eventually raped Carrie's younger(and still virginal) sister Sami instead.

* Parodied in the 1987 film of ''{{Dragnet}}'' where Joe Friday constantly refers to a rescued woman (intended as a VirginSacrifice) as "the virgin Connie Swail." Until [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtKUyfkBA2w the end of the movie]]...

[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
* 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 subvert this. A [[SuperSoldier Super Gangbanger]] ''and'' [[WeirdnessMagnet a Vampire]] both force themselves on her; but she is always able to fight them off before they can reach orgasm. Of course, she ends up having to kill them for one reason or another, [[ThouShaltNotKill which she's not very happy about]].
** 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.

So movies will often go out of their way to indicate that, against all odds, their DistressedDamsel is still a virgin, just to add that extra layer of tension. Doesn't matter whether they're prostitutes or in relationships with sexually active people. They're virgins, and damn it, the script will make that EXCEEDINGLY clear to make the audience worry: "Oh no! Will the pure chaste maiden be devirginized? Say it isn't so!" This can happen with a MyGirlIsNotASlut moment or just with dialogue.

* ''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.

* ''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." Justified in that it would have gotten them a higher bid for the opportunity to "deflower" her, and wanted to keep her in "mint condition."

* Somewhat interesting used in DavidEddings' ''TheTamuli'', 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'."

* Parodied in the 1987 film of ''{{Dragnet}}'' where everyone '''always''' refers to Connie Swail as "the virgin Connie Swail". Except right at the end after she's spent an evening with Joe Friday.
--> '''Joe Friday''': "blah blah blah Connie Swail."
--> '''Pep Streebeck''': "Wait a minute! Connie Swail?! Don't you mean ''the virgin'' Connie Swail?!"

* ''{{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." Justified in that it would have gotten them a higher bid for the opportunity to "deflower" her, and wanted to keep her in "mint condition."

* In ''{{The Sword of Truth}}'' series of books, Confessors are forced to remain virgins for the safety of their would-be lovers: the man's mind would be destroyed when the Confessor's power is released during the act of passion. Confessors therefore choose their eventual husbands not based on love or desire, but simply based on the need for procreation to pass their powers on to the next generation. The husband has his mind stripped away and becomes not a lover, but a mindless slave whose sole purpose is to teach his child everything he can. Of course, the main characters eventually [[ThePowerOfLove find a way around this]].

* Similar to ''Series/{{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.

* Daytime Soaps are fond of this trope, especially ''DaysOfOurLives''.

* Marina in WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/PericlesPrinceOfTyre'' 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]].

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* 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.

* In Juanita Coulson's ''The Death God's Citadel'', this trope is first invoked and then subverted. [[spoiler:Ilissa's [[ArrangedMarriage social-climbing jerkass fiancé]] rejects her when he finds out she's been raped...then, conveniently dies. By contrast, Erezjan—who genuinely loves Ilissa rather than just wanting to marry [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses royalty]]—is worried about what Ilissa has ''been'' through rather than whether or not she's "untouched."]]

Virginity in women is [[NatureAdoresAVirgin highly prized]]. The loss of virginity, on the other hand, is not. Even if 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).

* Marina in WilliamShakespeare's ''{{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]].