The value of virginity

Some people say that virginity has no value any more, said Robert Stacy McCain in The Other McCain, but it turns out the “fair market value” is at least $3.7 million. That’s what the top bidder so far is offering for the chance to deflower Natalie Dylan, 22, a San Diego woman who made headlines late last year by announcing that she would auction off her virginity to pay for her graduate studies in family therapy. “All right, feminists: Attack!”

This deluded woman thinks this sick auction is a win-win proposition, said the independent news site Huliq in an editorial. Dylan (not her real name) gets an education, and some lucky bidder gets to live out his fantasy. But in a world where it's okay for someone to sell her body for an education, and where a depraved man would rather buy sex than use the money to help poor people, "we all lose."

"The moral outrage is predictable," said Jazz Shaw in The Moderate Voice. But coming from a libertarian perspective, I'd say if she wants to auction off her virginity and someone is foolish enough to offer such a fortune to do the honors, that's between them. And to those angry over the example this sets for other young women, "all I can say is that if your daughters are looking to an Internet hooker as a role model you need to take a long hard look at your parenting skills."

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This whole thing sounds like a hoax, said Boston Herald editor Jules Crittenden in his blog. But if it's for real, and "demand is that high, it sounds like a lot of working girls could save themselves a lot of trouble—go for the big bucks in a one-off and retire."