Does this sound familiar? “Hey what a little wuss!!! I 
can’t believe you haven’t done it! No manches! You’re 
17 years old and you are still a virgin. Don’t tell me 
you’re one of those guys that wants to wait until you 
get married. Don’t make me laugh!”

I have heard it a lot of times. Nowadays it seems like 
teens don’t respect virginity.

All teens are curious about sex. It’s everywhere you 
go: around high school, on TV, in the movies,
on the radio. From these sources, stereotypes begin.

Around high school, the subject “SEX” always comes 
out. But does that mean that if your friends are 
having sex, you are going to do it too? Many teens 
begin to feel left out, and as a result, they get
curious about losing their virginity.

“Nowadays, teens think it’s an obligation to have 
sex,” says Tammy Uresti, Watsonville High School (WHS) 
student. And it might be true.

Often, you hear about how cool it is to shake it. “You 
don’t want to feel left out if you’re the only one who 
is still a virgin, especially if you’re a guy,” a WHS 
student stated.

“They lose their virginity because they are afraid to 
tell their partner ‘no’ and afraid of what their 
partner will think of them,” María González says.

It’s usually their partner or friends that influence 
teens to have sex, but is it okay for both, girls and
guys to lose their virginity?

“When guys have sex, they are considered the “man” or 
a “pimp” but when you hear about girls losing their 
virginity, people start calling them “hos” or “sluts,” 
says Anabel Ruiz, WHS student. “I mean why should it 
be okay for guys to have sex, but not for a girl?”

One word: stereotype. “Girls are the most likely to 
stay as virgins than guys, because if they don’t
then estarán quemadas. No matter the age or who the 
girl does it with, she will always seem like a slut
or a “ho,” says José Ortiz.

What’s up with that? Aren’t we all doing the same 
thing? There are no differences among girls
and guys, if either one loses their virginity.

So what can we do? There are things that never change. 
Bad reputations spread fast among teens.
That’s part of life. Teens play the game of life and 
one of them is sex. If you either decide to keep or
lose your virginity it’s up to you. Don’t let yourself 
flow in the same river as everyone else.

Not everyone loses their virginity to stay cool or fit 
in. I know we are in the 21st century, but some 
people still practice the habit of staying virgins 
until they get married. Be good to yourself and do the
right thing.