Like a Virgin...

WARNING: Sweeping generalizations abound here. Just roll with it.

The obligatory cherry pic.

I’ve been throwing around ideas for a while now about doing a series wherein the males in the piece are virgins. The notion just appealed to me on some level. Now the modern day Romancelandia hero is frequently in his thirties, at least six-feet tall, quite often features dark hair and eyes, and is, for the most part, an alpha male. He is rough and rugged. He is burly, brawny and many other things to boot. Occasionally he is even a billionaire. Typically though, he’s neither a young man nor a virgin. The reasons for this are quite simple. A twenty year old is for the larger part a personality still in flux. They’ve yet to rub up against the best and worst of what the world can throw at them. Life experience, in a romance hero, tends to be a desired trait. By the early-twenties, most people have got it on in one form or another. Losing it is often perceived as being a ‘rite of passage’. Besides, having swoonworthy bedroom skills tends to be up there with the burly, brawny stuff. A virgin, therefore, lacks the appropriate training. The thirty-second issue can also hinder a hot sex scene. We don’t want the story quite *that* short.

Oh yeah, he looks like the shy type to me.

Society teaches us to value and desire in accordance with what others have previously valued and desired. We can be a bit of a flock of sheep like that. Is our wannabe stud a virgin because men or women have not been flinging their undies in his general direction? Why no past coy glances and steamy scenes? If he hasn’t been wanted and desired previously then what’s wrong with him, exactly? Is he a mummy’s boy? Secret fetishes involving scotch tape holding him back? Please explain. Judgmental lot, aren’t we? Part of the Romanceland fantasy is wanting to be that special one in a million to break all the rules and snaffle the prize everyone else wants. The first true love, despite the playboy background. We’re in love with love. Love is hope of a better, brighter future. Onwards and upwards with our soul mate by our side. Who wouldn’t want that? And that he happens to have spent the last fifteen years perfecting the art of oral worship *just* for you is the icing on the cake. Right?

On the female side of things however, a female virgin does tend to pop up far more often. The hymen has been well treasured down through history.  Does she think of sex as something special and sacred? If not just anyone can get with her than isn’t she the top shelf prize? The experienced guy having sex with the virgin girl isn’t just a women’s fantasy. It can also be a men’s fantasy. Look at him bravely go where no man has gone down before! Ooh! Aah! She’s a woman now!

That's just disgusting.

There’s a very real power dynamic at work with being someone’s first. Of being the knowledgeable one, the one in charge. Couldn’t a heroine be the dominant, leading the way in this matter? Doesn’t that make for a delicious scenario? Whilst the twenty year old pool-boy and Mrs. Robinson scenario doesn’t particularly work for me, it is however a classic example of the powerplay. And cougars need love too, damn it!

I think a virgin hero that has lifetime experience – though not bedtime experience – is an interesting notion. Your first shag always goes down in history. Everyone remembers their first time as horrific or de-lovely as it might be. It makes for a hell of an impression. (I for one could never listen to REM ever again. Not totally a bad thing.) And the virgin hero has been done before, check out Linnea Sinclair’s ‘Games of Command’ for one. Thoughts? More virgin hero books to recommend? Have at it…