‘It’s not all about spreading one’s legs’
The discourse of virginity loss among female adolescents in rural Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.24048Keywords:
virginity loss, gendered youth, youth language, sexual debut, sexual scripts, rurality, health communication, NigeriaAbstract
This article explores the layers of signification and interpretive frames of female adolescents’ nuanced experiences of virginity loss in heterosexual relationships in Akpabuyo and Bakassi Local Government Areas of Cross River State in southeastern Nigeria. This study is theoretically anchored in the social constructionist perspective of doing gender, which conceptualises it as a routine accomplishment embedded in everyday interaction. Drawing on qualitative data using semi-structured interviews with 25 female adolescents who were purposively sampled, we investigate the social, cultural, and structural factors that informed participants’ sexual debut and romantic life trajectories from their nuanced perspectives and experiences. We investigate virginity-based discursive subjectivities under three thematic tropes: coercive/consensual sex, stigma, and patriarchal affordances. The results, based on linguistic evidence, show that participants have ambivalent perceptions of virginity loss and/or preservation: while some were overwhelmed with guilt and tended to align with traditional prescriptions about female sexuality, others viewed it as an extension of patriarchal subjugation of women and interpreted their experience in terms of agency and resistance. In this way, virginity loss discourses provide a prominent site for doing or undoing gender. The study recommends intervention programmes for young rural women to reduce the risk of unplanned pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and HIV/AIDS acquisition as a result of their lack of sexual competence, economic security, and educational empowerment, which have contributed to their vulnerability, victimhood, and exposure to unhealthy sexual practices.
References
Ababio, P. and Yendork, J. S. (2017) When you talk about virginity, it’s about females: Views on virginity among University of Ghana students. Sexuality and Culture 21(2): 549–568. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-016-9404-8.
Aboh, R. (2015) Slang and multiple methods of interpreting sex and sexual identity in the Nigeriannovel. The African Symposium: An Online Journal of the African Research Networks 15(1): 91–97.
Addison, C. (2010) Enlightenment and virginity. Inkanyiso Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 2(2): 71–77. Doi: https://doi.org/10.4314/ijhss.v2i2.63478.
Amakor, G. O. (2018) Unmarried young mothers in South-eastern Nigeria. Attitudes and experiences. PhD thesis, Aston University.
Balarabe, K. (2022) The legal status and perception of sexual rights among some selected stakeholders in Nigeria. Sexuality and Culture 26: 1090–1114. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-021-09933-7.
Butler J. (1988) Performative acts and gender constitution: An essay in phenomenology and feminist theory. Theatre Journal 40(4): 519–531. Doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/3207893.
Butler J. (1990) Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. New York: Routledge.
Carpenter, L. M. (2001) The ambiguity of “having sex”: The subjective experience of virginity loss in the United States. Journal of Sex Research 38(2): 127–139. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490109552080.
Carpenter, L. M. (2002) Gender and the meaning and experience of virginity loss in contemporary United States. Gender and Society 16(3): 345–365. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243202016003005.
Carpenter, L. M. (2005) Virginity lost: An intimate portrait of first sexual experiences. New York: New York University.
Carpenter, L. M. (2011) Like a virgin... again? Secondary virginity as an ongoing gendered social construction. Sexuality and Culture 15(2): 115–140. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-010-9085-7.
Cerulo, K. A. (1997) Identity construction: New issues, new directions. Annual Review of Sociology 23(1): 385–409. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.23.1.385.
Chisale, S. S. and Byrne, D. C. (2018) Feminism at the margin: The case of the virginity bursaries in South Africa. African Identities 16(4): 371–382. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14725843.2018.1439729.
Connell, R. W. (1987) Gender and power: Society, the person and sexual politics. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Connell, R. W. (1996) New directions in gender theory, masculinity research and gender politics. Ethnos: Journal of Anthropology 61(3–4): 157–176. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00141844.1996.9981534.
Crossouard, B., Dunne, M., Szyp, C., Madu, T. and Teekin, B. (2021) Rural youth in Southern Nigeria: Fractured lives and ambitious futures. Journal of Sociology 54(4): 1–18. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/14407833211042422.
Deutsch, F. M. (2007) Undoing gender. Gender and Society 21(1): 106–127. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243206293577.
Durojaye, E. (2016) The human rights implications of virginity testing in South Africa. International Journal of Discrimination and the Law 16(4): 228–246. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/135822911664124.
Epprecht, M. (2009) Sexuality, Africa, history. The American Historical Review 114(5): 1258–1272. https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr.114.5.1258.
Fiaveh, D. Y., Okyerefo, M. P. and Fayorsey, C. K. (2017) Women’s experiences of sexual pleasure in Ghana. Sexuality and Culture 19(4): 697–714. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-015-9290-5.
Fiaveh, D. Y. and Okyerefo, M. P. (2019) Femininity, sexual position and choice. Sexualities 22(1–2): 131–147. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460716677281.
Gesselman, A. N., Webster, G. D. and Garcia, J. R. (2016) Has virginity lost its virtue? Relationship stigma associated with being a sexually inexperienced adult. The Journal of Sex Research 54(2): 202–213. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2016.1144042.
Gilovich, T. and Medvec, V. H. (1995) The experience of regret: What, when, and why. Psychological Review 102(2): 379–395. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.102.2.379.
Hassaini, S. (2017) The Tunisian women who want to be virgins again. Retrieved from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-40288822.
Hoffman, A. J. (2018) Virginity loss experiences: The negative experience of waiting till marriage. PhD thesis. San Diego: Alliant International University.
Holland, J., Ramazanoglu, C., Sharpe, S. and Thomson, R. (2010) Deconstructing virginity: Young people’s account of first sex. Sexual and Relationship Therapy 25(3): 351–362. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14681994.2010.496970.
Humphreys, T. P. (2013) Cognitive frameworks of virginity and first intercourse. Journal of Sex Research 50(7): 664–675. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2012.677868.
Ikpe, E. B. (2004) Human sexuality in Nigeria: A historical perspective. A paper presented at Understanding Human Sexuality Seminar Series 2. Lagos: Africa Regional Sexuality Centre.
Inderbitzen, M. (2003) Boundaries: Readings in deviance, crime and criminal justice: A customized reader. Boston, Mass.: Pearson Custom.
Inyabri, I., Offong, I. and Mensah, E. (2022) Satire, agency and the contestation of patriarchy in Ibibio women’s songs. African Studies 81(1): 23–44. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00020184.2022.2057922.
Izugbara, C. O. (2004) Patriarchal ideology and discourses of sexuality in Nigeria. Paper presented at Understanding Human Sexuality Seminar Series 2. Lagos: Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre.
Kang, M. A. and Chen, K. H. (2014) Stance-taking and the Hong Kong girl in a shifting heterosexual marketplace. Discourse and Society 25(2): 205–220. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926513515587.
Kulish, N. and Holtzman, D. (1998) Persephone, the loss of virginity and the female Oedipal complex. The international Journal of Psychoanalysis 79(1): 57–71.
Lakoff, R. (1975) Language and women’s place. New York: Harper and Row.
Mensah, E.[Eyo] (2020) When you open your legs, you eat: The discourse of transactional sex among female youth in Nigeria. Sexuality and Culture 24(3): 543–560. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460720961295.
Mensah, E.[Eyo] (2021a) To be a man is not a day’s job: The discursive construction of hegemonic masculinity by rural youth in Nigeria. Gender Issues 38(4): 438–460. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-020-09271-2.
Mensah, E.[Eyo] (2021b) Contextual slanguage as linguistic performance among female youth in Nigeria. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 39(4): 338–351. Doi: https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2021.1956981.
Mensah, E.[Eyo] (2022) He looks so cute: The discourse of heterosexual relationship initiation among female youth in Nigeria. Sexualities 25(3): 242–266. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460720961295.
Mensah, E.[Eyo] (2023) Husband is a priority: Gender roles, patriarchy and the naming of female children in Nigeria. Gender Issues 40: 44–64. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-022-09303-z.
Mensah, E.[Eyo] and Nkamigbo, L. (2016) All I want is your waist: Sexual metaphors as youth language in Nigeria. Sociolinguistic Studies 10(1–2): 177–198. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.v10i1-2.27809.
Meyerhoff, M. (2015) Gender performativity. In P. Whelehan and A. Bolin (eds) International encyclopedia of human sexuality 1–4. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Molla, M., Berhane, Y. and Lindtjorn, B. (2008) Traditional values of virginity and sexual behavior in rural Ethiopian youth: Results from a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health 8(9): 1–10. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-8-9.
Mulumeoderhwa, M. (2018) Virginity requirement versus sexually active young people: What girls and boys think about virginity in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo. Archives of Sexual Behaviour 47(3): 565–575. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-017-1038-x.
Nartey, M. (2021) A feminist critical discourse analysis of Ghanaian feminist blogs. Feminist Media Studies 21(4): 657–672. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2020.1837910.
Naula, N., Owor, J. O. and Gulere, C. W. (2018) A study of the portrayal of virginity in Ugandan novels. International Journal of English and Literature 9(4): 25–30. Doi: https://doi.org/10.5897/IJEL2018.1170.
Ndangue, J. R. (2014) The ‘virginity stones’ costing Cameroonian women their health. Retrieved from: https://observers.france24.com/en/20140131-virginity-alum-stone-cameroon-women-health.
Onyeji, E. (2018) Fifteen percent of Nigerian youth lose virginity before they reach age fifteen. Retrieved from: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/258498-15-per-cent-nigerian-youth.
Petterson, P. (2020) Thousands of maidens gather for annual Reed Dance. Retrieved from: https://peranderspettersson.photoshelter.com/image/I0000yzyUmPZOvLo.
Quashigah, E. K. (1998) Religious freedom and vestal virgins: The Trokosi practice in Ghana. African Journal of International and Comparative Law 10(2): 198–215.
Renne, E. (1993) Changes in adolescent sexuality and the perception of virginity in a southwestern Nigerian village. Health Transition Review 9(1): 121–133.
Risman, B. (2009) From doing to undoing gender. Gender and Society 23(1): 81–84. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243208326874.
Shields, S. and Dicicco, E. (2011) The social psychology of sex and gender: From gender differences to doing gender. Psychology of Women Quarterly 35(3): 491–499. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684311414823.
Smith, D. J. (2004) Youth, sin and sex in Nigeria: Christianity and HIV/AIDS-related beliefs and behavior among rural-urban migrants. Culture, Health and Sexuality 6(5): 425–437. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13691050410001680528.
Swain, J. M. and Spire, Z. D. (2020) The role of informal conversations in generating data, and the ethical and methodological issues. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research 21(1): 1–22. Doi: https://doi.org/10.17169/FQS-21.1.3344.
Vincent, L. (2006) Virginity test in South Africa: Re-traditioning the postcolony. Culture, Health and Culture 8(1): 17–30. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13691050500404225.
Wang, X. and Ho, S. Y. (2011) Female virginity complex untied: Women’s experience of virginity loss and sexual cohesion. Smith College Studies in Social Works 81(2–3): 184–200. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00377317.2011.589336.
Werbner, P. (2014) Between ontological transformation and the imagination of tradition: Girls’ puberty rituals in twenty-first century Botswana. Journal of Religion in Africa 44(3–4): 355–85. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/15700666-12340013.
West, C. and Zimmerman, D. (1987) Doing gender. Gender and Society 1(2): 125–151. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243287001002002.
Wood, K. and Jewkes, R. (1997) Rape and social coercion: Everyday love in South African township. Gender and Development 5(2): 41–46. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/741922353.
Zaba, B., Pisani, E., Slaymaker, E. and Boerman, J. T. (2004) Age at first sex: Understanding recent trends in African demographic survey. Sexually Transmitted Infections 80(2): 28–35. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/sti.2004.012674.
