The demand for virgin brides is a property claim, not a natural norm.

Evidence

In the past, in matriarchal communities, virginity was not demanded of the new wife, and for mystical reasons she was normally supposed to be deflowered before the wedding. In some French regions, these ancient prerogatives can still be observed; prenuptial chastity is not required of girls; and even girls who have “sinned” or unmarried mothers sometimes find a husband more easily than others. Moreover, in circles that accept woman’s liberation, girls are granted the same sexual freedom as boys. However, paternalistic ethics imperiously demand that the bride be delivered to her husband as a virgin; he wants to be sure she does not carry within her a foreign germ; he wants the entire and exclusive property of this flesh he makes his own; virginity has taken on a moral, religious, and mystical value, and this value is still widely recognized today. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1161

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Beauvoir’s broader theme of woman as property and the Other, and to Lévi-Strauss’s exchange-of-women thesis.
• DEFINE: Clarifies the transactional-property logic behind virginity requirements.