This book is a study of female virginity loss and its representations in popular Anglophone literatures. It explores dominant cultural narratives around what makes a “good” female virginity loss experience by examining two key forms of popular literature: autobiographical virginity loss stories and popular romance fiction.
Dr Jodi McAlister is a Lecturer in Writing, Literature and Culture at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. She has published extensively on romantic love in popular culture. She is also an author; her young adult paranormal romance novels include Valentine (2017), Ironheart (2018), and Misrule (2019).
1.Introduction: The Lost Virginity of Britney Spears.- 2. Chapter One – The Demisexual Citizen.- 3. Chapter Two – The Good Girl Virgin.- 4. Chapter Three – These Are My Confessions: The History, Project, and Pleasures of the Virginity Loss Confessional Genre.- 5. Chapter Four – Confessions Part II: Reading the Virginity Loss Confessional Genre.- 6. Chapter Five – This Modern Love: The Virgin Heroine in Historical Romance Fiction.- 7. Chapter Six – Middle Class Morality: The Virgin Heroine in Contemporary Category Romance Fiction.- 8. Chapter Seven – Virginity Loss in the Twenty-First Century and Reactions to Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey.- 9. Conclusion – Virgin Territory.