Natalie Dylan recently posted on The Daily Beast her rationale for auctioning off her virginity... so far the highest bid is $3.8 million. Dylan explains that her recent bachelor's degree in women's studies has prompted this social experiment, all in preparation for her upcoming thesis on the value of virginity.
Although Dylan's decision is not anything close to a bold feminist statement (what's next, two virgins offering a threesome?), she is rather savvy -- I certainly can't think of another way to make $3.8 million so fast.
By selling her virginity, Dylan is proving an already obvious point: virginity is still considered something of value, money aside. The problem isn't the fact that her virginity is for sale; it's that someone is willing to spend almost 4 million dollars to sleep with her, just because no one else has prior. At least Dylan is making a profit -- why is there not equal media attention questioning the idea that certain men are willing to spend so much money for a fleeting moment of pleasure?
Kate Harding said it best, "What I want is a world in which there are no virginity auctions because there are no bidders, because nobody fetishizes a woman's 'purity'..."
Dylan claims, "Deflowering is historically oppressive...idealized virginity is just a tool to keep women in their place."
Dylan supposedly non-idealizes her virginity by putting it up for sale; but instead it becomes even more idealized to the bidders, as they vie for the opportunity to deflower. In other words, the oppression continues, though albeit with a nice monetary gain. She is still just as much an object, if not more so.
I don't care much for Dylan's pseudo-feminist blathering about what amounts to the fact that she found a good Get Rich Quick Scheme. Instead of an inevitable "Why I'm Selling My Virginity Part II," how about the essay "Why I'm Buying A Virginity."
Now, there's how we can actually find out about value of virginity, rather than reading self-righteous justifications about profiting from sex.