Virginity Isn’t a Choice. It’s a Chain.

[u/United-Banana-8874]

In much of the Arab world, virginity is not private.
It is not intimate.
It is not yours.

It belongs to everyone but you—
your family, your tribe, your community.
Guarded. Weighed. Judged.
Your body becomes a ledger of their honour.

For men, there is no ledger.
No hymen. No proof demanded.
They roam. They conquer.
They laugh in cafés, smoke in rooms,
their bodies untouched by consequence.
Their stories never stain a name.
Their flesh is theirs alone.

But for women, virginity is life or death.
If you are not a virgin on your wedding day,
you risk your life, your honour, your family’s name.
A wedding night without blood on the sheets—
a whisper in the marketplace—
a rumor in the wrong ears—
and shame is not a feeling.
It is a verdict.

Some call this sacred.
Some cloak it in words like honour, protection, faith.
But peel back the layers and you see the truth:
Power.
Held by men.
Pressed against women.

It is not God.
It is not morality.
It is control.
Who gets to live freely.
Who must walk in fear.

The double standard is savage.
A man’s mistakes make him worldly.
A woman’s desires make her disposable.
He is forgiven.
She is erased.

Yes, the West has its own chains—
slut-shaming, purity culture, whispered judgment.
But at least there is dialogue.
At least the question, why?, can be asked.

In Arab households, silence is deeper.
Questions are dangerous.
To challenge virginity as honour
is to challenge family, tradition, God Himself.
So most women swallow the fear.
Some are forced to navigate the impossible:
turning to anal sex to avoid “losing” their virginity,
because there is no evidence, no proof—but the fear, the pressure, the judgment, remains.
They wear the chain. Carry the shame.

But silence is not safety.
Obedience is not dignity.

What if virginity were not currency?
What if honor were not measured in hymens?
What if women’s lives were valued for humanity, not restraint?

These questions are not betrayal.
They are survival.
They are love—for our mothers, our sisters, our daughters—
who deserve more than a life defined by what they have not done.

Virginity is not sacred.
Women are.

[u/soundman32]

Crazy religions give crazy people crazy ideas.

[u/Monarch_of_Monarchs]

Men need to be held accountable aswell for sure and I don't think it should be this harsh on anyone because for most it's between them and Allah. But yeah besides those 2 points I don't agree with the rest.