Today’s New York Time runs a report on Shanghainese women selling their virginities to Chinese billionaires. It is a fascinating old story. I’ve knew that for years.

For a woman, selling her virginity is a privilege. Geishas, high class courtesans, and also street prostitutes sell their first times for high prices. In old time, a virgin can claim more dowries than a non-virgin do. It’s a tradition in both oriental and western societies.

But speaking of virginity, there are two things here. The first is whether virginity is worth something or not; the second is whether selling it is meritable or not.

In our campus, there was also a hot debate about virginity during last few weeks. One woman found herself struggling with sex, repented herself deeply for losing her virginity too casually, and questioned the value of keeping herself intact. Several people (most are women) rebuffed it, but a few readers highly praised the virtue of virginity. The hymen is a God’s gift, one claimed, it means purity. One should save her virginity for the last to deserve the purity of white wedding dress. These religious arguments, however, were taunted by almost all subsequent letters.

One comment also argued that virginity does mean something. It is a dividing line between an innocent girl and a full blown woman. In a sense, it is priceless, but in other ways, it is worthless. It is not something you want to sell, but a treasure you want to cherish and to dedicate to somebody.

So it is clear that even in the US, virginity is something to talk about it. The president G. W. Bush also strongly encourages teenagers to abstain from sex. Many innocent girls indeed have taken oaths to keep their virginities till the marriage. Studies showed that the oath didn’t decrease the percent of girls who lost their virginities before marriage, but it did delay the time to be sexually active.

One commentator gave a very good point about sex. He (I assume he is a guy) defined three different meanings of sex: fucking, having sex, and making love. Fucking is something you do when you (a girl) meet a drunken guy and truck him; two friends can have sex if they feel needed, like friends with benefit; but making love should strictly refer to sexual activities you do with your lover. So losing the virginity in the back of car or during the physiological relief after a party is stupid and irresponsible, but giving it to the lover is commendable.

Since virginity is something, does selling it make sense? Well, we are living in a “free” world. A girl is free to sell whatever she has if somebody wants to buy it. If the girl is willing to consider her hymen as a precious commodity, I don’t see any reason not to sell it. But here is the key, what does it sell for?

In the case of selling the virginity to billionaires, the price for the virginity is a large sum of money in the form of marriage. It certainly brings happiness too. As one girl in the NYT report claims, if she can stand on the giant’s shoulder, she can look farther.

However, many girls don’t agree with the statement that money is happiness. They treat love, romance, and intimacy as loftier subjects than money. They argue that virginity is something you give to the dearest lover, not to the highest bidder.

I am not sure which side is correct. To me, either side has its own merit. But more and more women seem to side with the money grabbers.