There has been a messy-mess of talk about virgins and abstinence over the past couple of years, much of it confusing. That gal sold her cherry in Nevada brothel for big bucks. Pregnant abstinence promoter Bristol Palin was dragged through the muck. The two camps in the sexual education debate have argued, and will continue to argue, about the merits of abstinence-only versus abstinence-recommended. The much lusted after Jo-Bros and some other Disney cats said they are saving it for marriage with their purity rings. A reporter had the temerity to ask college football player Tim Tebow about his virginity. We (YourTango) ran a story about a divorced virgin. And even my dear, old friend Ron recently moved off of Maiden Lane, coincidentally several months before his beautiful wife, Janine, had a baby.

Lots of chastity in the USA, and that could be for the best. There are numerous advantages to keeping your v-card:

• Pregnancy is (almost) impossible: So far there has only been one person born without P into V (or without some fluid exchange) and his initials are JHC. 
• Venereal disease is improbable: The blood supply is fairly clean and the unsavory toilet seat thing is a bit of an urban legend, sexual contact, of some kind, is required for most of today's STDs.
• Death by Jason Voorhees or another teen-menacing monster is implausible: Those naughty teens don't get knifed, axed or otherwise dispatched until after they've done the deed.

Not to mention the chemical-emotional rollercoaster that coitus involves. "The kids" are bombarded by sexuality, sultriness and suggestive shampoo commercials from sun-up to sundown by almost every form of media (including flying banners at the beach). It's kind of nice that someone out there is telling these scamps, "Hold your horses there, governor." But it's not helpful when their message is mixed.