The deferred, compressed wedding-night initiation makes the transition to womanhood traumatic.

Evidence

Virginity is valued so highly in many circles that to lose it outside marriage seems a veritable disaster. The young girl who surrenders by coercion or by surprise thinks she dishonors herself. The “wedding night,” which delivers the virgin to a man whom she has ordinarily not even chosen, and which attempts to condense into a few hours—or instants—the entire sexual initiation, is not a simple experience. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 959

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the reader’s previous readings on ritual sacrifice (ADDENDUM-relevant: the wedding night as a structured sacrificial rite across cultures).