Planned parenthood billboard: "Virginity is a social construct"

Well, that's a surefire way to get attention. Planned Parenthood has bought a digital billboard somewhere and the headline on it simply reads "Virginity is a social construct"…

Then to spread the message, Planned Parenthood tweeted it out with the message: The idea of virginity comes from outdated — let's be real, patriarchal— ways of thinking that hurts everyone. 📢
Patriarchal? Social Construct? I am not the only person perplexed by this tweet, it is as the kids say, severely ratioed. The current score is 353 Retweets, 2,508 quote-tweets, 1,718 Likes, 365 bookmarks, and a whopping two million views. The number of comments is never-ending. Planned Parenthood is playing it cool and is wisely not responding. Whoever is running their social media is a master in tossing in the flame torch and then exiting stage left as the flamewar erupts.

The idea of virginity comes from outdated — let's be real, patriarchal— ways of thinking that hurts everyone. 📢 pic.twitter.com/QYmNbEZzbw

— Planned Parenthood (@PPFA) June 29, 2023

This isn't the first time that Planned Parenthood has said that very line though. It seems that making it a simple single-message billboard really grabs people's attention - there's an ad lesson in that. The phrase has previously been seen on illustrations put out by Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, back in 2019. It may be more difficult to locate in this busy image, but it's by the cherries. People in the comments to that old post also asked "How is Virginity a social construct?" and got no response then either.

But Planned Parenthood were not the only people who touted this line back in 2019. Miley Cyrus added the phrase to her Mother's Daughter (Official Video), and when she shared clips on her Instagram, and her fans were reportedly not happy, though a Cosmopolitan writer agreed. "Sorry, Haters: Miley Cyrus Is Right—Virginity Is *Totally* a Social Construct". It even garnered a thinkpiece in the Independent: Miley Cyrus is right – there is no such thing as virginity.

Meanwhile, back in 2022, the sexual well-being blog Volonté brought the phrase up again in "Is it normal to be a virgin in your 20s?", adding a positive twist.

Lack of sexual experience, even in later stages of life, doesn’t define who we are or what our worth is. Virginity is a social construct that only influences us if we allow it. And being a virgin in your 20s can be fun and great if we let go of fear and judgment surrounding our sexuality.

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