Victoria Uwumarogie

In the nature of revolting reality TV (Jersey Shore, where are you!?), a new production entitled “Proof Pure,” based out of Australia, made news  recently for its plans to auction off the one thing you definitely can’t get back: your virginity.

What makes this show all the more horrendous is the fact that the people auctioning off their virginity are teenagers. The Australian teens will be offering up their innocence and self-respect in Vegas brothels, where prostitution, and even prostitution involving 16 year olds, is legal.

So what does a show like this say about the society we live in? At one time or the other, sexuality was more covert than overt (well, at least on television) and virginity was something people valued rather than shunned. But with the prevalence of kooky stories about young people selling their virginity to pay for college, Disney stars turning from teenyboppers into tantalizing sex objects and teen moms (thanks a lot, Jamie Lynn Spears) and trash television programs such as “Proof Pure,” your “v-card” is worth less than a $2 bill these days. Especially in college, where it seems like most people are doing it, including your disgusting neighbor and the girl you thought was a book worm. But what if you want to maintain your virginity in college? And when is the right time to start thinking about having sex? Take some tips from these collegiate ladies who’ve done it, haven’t done it, and wish they didn’t do it, to help you understand why they chose to keep their v-card even when everyone else isn’t.  

The Campus Role Model: Virgin

Sitting in a computer lab after class on a random Wednesday, I brought up the topic of going to the gynecologist to a room of five young women, ages 21 to 22. Their reactions to the topic at hand were as diverse as their personalities. One felt comfortable enough to say she’d been to the gynecologist after becoming sexually active, one said she’d only been once, and a few had reservations about having to “expose” themselves to strangers at all. But only one person was totally disgusted by the idea of going to the gynecologist.

“Why don’t you go to the gynecologist?” I ask Mizzou senior Amber Wade. Her response:

“Because I’m totally freaked out about it!” she says, her voice a mixture of a laugh and sheer embarrassment.

Amber is one of the many young women who opt out of visiting the gynecologist’s office every year. According to experts at About.com, at the age of 21, Amber should be visiting the gynecologist at least once a year. With zero visits under her belt, Amber is actually way behind in her rendezvous with an OB/Gyn. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists also says that young women should have an initial visit between the ripe ages of 13 and 15 to ask questions about their body, sex, and to just gain a comfortable rapport with their gynecologist.  

So why are so many young women like Amber avoiding the stirrups? Probably because the word and the image of stirrups is terrifying (“16 & Pregnant” anyone?). But more than that, Amber says for her, it’s because she doesn’t feel like it’s necessary this “early” in her young life.

Imagine this.
Instead of going to school in the freshest new skinny jeans and your trusty Ugg boots, imagine wearing a uniform to class everyday in college: blue dress shirt, dark dress pants. Instead of pulling an all-nighter for your hardest final exam, imagine that your final exam is a two mile run and a hefty sit up and push up test. This is what it’s often like for women in military school. Does it sound like an experience you would actually enjoy?

Depends on who you ask.

If you ask Kristine Devine, a 22-year-old senior at The Citadel, a military college in South Carolina, it may not be the best thing smoking, but it’s her reality. But if you ask Sophia Bay, a 21-year-old senior at the same institution, it’s been a worthwhile experience that she would love to do all over again.

While they have a lot in common thanks to their participation in athletics at the university, their experiences at the celebrated military college are anything but similar.

A school with a name that means “a fortress” and facilities built in a castle-like fashion, The Citadel, founded in 1842, is one of the best schools in the South according to the US News and World Report’s best colleges list for 2010. The school teaches the normal academics, but also helps build character through leadership roles, military training and through helping to build students’ physical fitness. So no, The Citadel and many military schools like it won’t be found on Princeton Review’s top party school list. They mean business, and no one knows that better than both Devine and Bay.

Bay took part in an ROTC program while in high school, but she calls her enrollment at The Citadel her first real foray into military education. She says that her primary reasons for going to the University were not only the money The Citadel offered her, but also the opportunities the school affords its graduates.

After debuting in 1959, our beloved Barbie has seen it all, done it all, had it all and most definitely, worn it all.

She’s been everything from Chione, a Limited Edition doll from Cairo, Egypt, a black girl named Trichelle, a mermaid, an ‘80s rock star, a veterinarian and a babysitter, all while keeping her makeup at a maximum, showing as much immovable leg as possible and keeping that 100-watt smile flashing. But for her 50th birthday, Barbie may have found an outfit that blows her mostly pink wardrobe, various convertibles and boats out the water. Meet Burka Barbie.

If you’ve never heard of a burka, chances are, you’ve seen it. They’ve been spread across the television through reports about Middle Eastern culture and life—something that’s reported on constantly thanks to the war in Iraq. So what exactly is a burka?

The burka is a form of covering worn by many Middle Eastern women of Muslim faith. It resembles a sheet, but covers the entire body, leaving only the eyes to be seen by the public; while these are prevalent, there are burkas that cover the eyes as well. It has been said that the burka is worn to prevent women from being ogled or seen in general by men. The burka should not be confused with the hijab, another form of covering worn in Muslim culture, but one that only covers the head of Muslim women (not the face or the body). Both forms of covering are said to be a way for Muslim women to dress in modesty, as the Qur’an, the book of Muslim people of faith, requires men and women to dress and behave modestly.