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ABSTRACT
How do young people interpret virginity loss, and does saving sex for marriage have any socially constructed benefit for marriage? This study answers this question using data obtained from a peer-led Facebook group with more than 175,000 participants and interviews from the people of Ugomoson,a village in Edo state that would serve as the main focus for this study. Mostly in African countries, particularly Nigeria. A reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse 100 public wall posts and 3860 comments posted on the group between June 2018 and May 2019. Four distinctive interpretations of virginity loss comprising the gift, precondition, stigma, and process emerged from the data. These interpretations were also gendered, such that a woman’s virginity was interpreted as a gift but a stigma for men. The wall posts and comments further suggest that saving sex for marriage may have some culturally sensitive benefits, including trust, and marital sexual satisfaction. While the physical interview in Ugomoson assured that saving sex for marriage was a duty and necessity for women, as sex was both a physical and spiritual connection. Altogether the findings expand the current understanding of the diverse perceived benefits of virginity that move beyond honour and respect to more complex benefits like trust in a union, sexual satisfaction and ultimate satisfaction in marriage.
