Female College Students Perceptions of Virginity and Oral Sex

Limited research exists on perceptions of virginity and oral sex among female college students. The majority of research studies on female college students focus on virginity related to participation in only vaginal sex. This research is part of a larger qualitative descriptive study which explored female college students’ perceptions about the factors which influenced their participation in oral sex. Sixteen female college students ranging from 18 to 24 years of age participated in semi-structured interviews. Primary data included verbatim transcripts, demographic data and sexual health questionnaires. All participants had engaged in oral sex. Defining virginity emerged as a main theme from the thematic data analysis. Overall findings provide insight about views regarding oral sex and virginity status among college aged women.