Got Shamed for being a Virgin

Pata hai aaj kya hua....I’m a woman in my 20s. I have a well established career, I’m financially independent, conventionally attractive, social, and honestly pretty happy with my life.

During college, I focused heavily on studies and building my career. I never really dated and never had sex. Not because I “couldn’t”, not because I’m conservative, and definitely not because “something is wrong with me”. It was just my choice and life happened that way.

Recently I was talking to a man and the conversation got candid. When I told him I’m a virgin, he literally reacted with “ewww”. Then he started questioning me like there must be something wrong with me if I’m good looking and still a virgin in my mid 20s.

And I’m genuinely confused by the double standards.

Indian men constantly talk about wanting “traditional girls”, “low body count”, “wife material”, virgins etc. But when they actually meet a woman who hasn’t slept around, suddenly she’s weird, undesirable, inexperienced, suspicious, or a red flag?

So what exactly do men want here?

Because from a woman’s perspective, it feels like women get judged no matter what they do. If she’s sexually active, she gets labelled. If she’s not, she also gets labelled. Why does this contradiction exist?