Sabrina’s virginity: TV's continuing support of outdated social constructs

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Part 3 Poster — Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is a modern TV show only where it wants to be (picture with courtesy of Netflix)

Sabrina’s virginity: Modern TV shows’ continuing support of an outdated social construct. Why would a show as modern as The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina resort to an ancient concept of Sabrina’s virginity without having Sabrina, the main character, question it?

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina can be considered a modern, feminist TV show. In fact, many of its story arcs revolve around female empowerment and women striving for or reaching positions they would not normally hold within their fictional world. So again, Why would a show as modern as The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina resort to an ancient concept of Sabrina’s virginity without having Sabrina, the main character, question it?

How the story arc comes about

It starts with the founding of W.I.C.C.A., a feminist club at Sabrina’s mortal high school, continues with her disregard of outdated rules at Dorian’s Grey Room where she is frequently seen despite it being a gentlemen’s club, and her applying as Head Boy. Sabrina is not the only character to throw rules and regulations overboard when her Aunt Zelda ascends to High Priestess within the Church of Night. Lilith, too, is a female character that conquers a position formerly held by a man when she becomes Queen of Hell, if only briefly before Sabrina assumes the role herself.

Sabrina’s entire character is set out to be a role model feminist. She is a young woman who is determined to decide over her own life, refusing to choose between the mortal and the witch world. She wants both freedom and power and not even the devil himself can stand in her way. At first glance, the show seems to be exactly what young women should be watching in order to take a page out of Sabrina’s book, but very early into its third season, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina proves that it’s not as modern and “woke” as it appears at first glance.

Sabrina and her friends are gathering at the carnival, not knowing they are going to witness an outdated social construct (picture with courtesy of Netflix)

Where the concept of sacrificing Sabrina’s virginity comes from

As the Pagans return during the third season and attempt to conquer the world by waking up the old Gods, their ritual requires something every single one of us has repeatedly seen in various TV shows, movies, and books, something so commonly used in media that we have long stopped questioning it: a virgin sacrifice. The viewers that had questioned it before began to roll their eyes at the screen because not only is the idea of virgin sacrifice greatly overused, but it is also based on a concept that is so outdated, it should have died out a long ago. Yet, for some reason, today’s pop culture and TV shows still cling to the idea of a social construct that is quite possibly the very opposite of feminist and aimed at controlling women and their sexuality.

Sabrina during her Dark Baptism (picture with courtesy of Netflix)

We, as a society, should have ditched the concept of virginity a long time ago and yet, it is still prevalent in our everyday lives and in modern media as Chilling Adventures of Sabrina clearly demonstrates. One could argue that, since CAOS borrows a lot of its concepts from the bible and Christianity, the concept of virginity came as part of a package. Over many centuries, it was the church that used virginity as a tool to control women, their sexuality and measure their “purity”. In fact, witches in the Church of Night are expected to abstain from sexual activities before signing their name in the Book of the Beast, thus “saving themselves” for the Dark Lord which mirrors the church’s belief that people should save themselves for marriage.

Since the concept of virginity is so engrained in our society that many people have never thought to question it, it might make sense to take a look at why the idea is so outdated. Centuries ago, when paternal tests hadn’t yet been invented and women were still traded for a goat and a handful a sheep, a future husband probably wanted to make sure that children borne by his newly acquired wife were actually his own so as not to raise and pay for another man’s offspring.

However, as Western society began to evolve, the concept of virginity still prevailed. Except for deeply religious groups, it was no longer a trait to be kept and treasured until marriage, it was something to be “lost” as quickly as possible. Society began to judge young (and older) people on how early they had sex and how often, pressuring teenagers into relationships for fear of missing out or not fitting in or generally just being “a loser” for not having found anyone willing to “take” their virginity as if it was something that could be taken or given or lost. It’s not.

Today, as we take into account the many areas outside of heteronormativity, there is no longer a single definition of virginity. It can’t be defined, it can’t be measured, it can’t be taken or given, so it can’t be lost or even had in the first place. Even the presence or lack of a hymen is not a means of determining so-called virginity, no matter what you’ve been made to believe. Virginity is nothing but a social construct that, for some reason, has stayed with us for maybe a century too many.

If the show is about a feminist and modern character why are they hung up on Sabrina’s virginity?

Back on the topic of CAOS, we can’t help but notice that Sabrina herself is a modern, feminist woman who defies the rules wherever she goes, changing them when it is possible and bending them to her own needs. That is the Sabrina Spellman we know and admire. Yet for her many excellent qualities as a strong, female character, there are also a couple of flaws, one being that she is not as forward-thinking as she could be. While two of her friends and her favourite teacher are under threat from the Pagans, Sabrina does her witchy best to help them (that is, if she is not busy defending the throne she didn’t want in the first place).

But while she is focused on finding a way to save her friends, an endeavour that fails at the first attempt, Sabrina never stops to question the reason behind the danger because, she, too, has been led to believe in the construct of virginity. While all of her friends are making a fuss about it and Miss Wardwell is shamed for it, Sabrina – and by extension, the show itself – never question the reality of virginity itself.

Sabrina takes on the role as Queen of Hell (picture with courtesy of Netflix)

CAOS took the easy route down a plot point that has been used countless of times without giving an explanation. What kind of virgins were the Pagans looking for in the first place? Since they chose Harvey, would a person born without a hymen have done the trick even though they had never had sex? Would the ritual have worked on someone who has had sex but still had a hymen? What were the rules regarding other types of sexual activities (which I’m pretty sure Harvey has engaged in)? There is no singular definition of virginity, so what type of virgin were they looking for? Since virginity can’t be proven or measured, could the Pagans ever be sure their strange ritual would work?

What episodes about Sabrina’s virginity says about the show

As I was watching the latest season of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, I had many questions that I scribbled down in my notebook while I watched, but one remained the most pressing: Why would a show as modern as CAOS resort to an ancient concept without having the main character question it when it is quite modern in many other aspects? Why couldn’t it ditch the overused “virginity sacrifice” or, better yet, let Sabrina show the ridiculousness of the entire idea and break free of another established social construct?

In not doing so, CAOS showed that it is a modern TV show only where it wants to be while it continues to use social constructs that put pressure on young men and women alike and feed into the idea that someone’s worth in society is defined by their sexual activity – or lack thereof.

For more Sabrina Coverage check out:

Catch up on part one of the “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”

Catch up on part two of the “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”

Corinna’s Chilling Closet Cosplay: Cosplaying Sabrina on a budget

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