My problem with the idea of virginity has already been stated by many different people from many sources. Without getting too preachy, the reason why I don't agree with the idea that you can "give away" something when you have sex for the first time is because it gives too much value to a person's character and how they are percieved, it promotes sexism and also excludes any other sexuality other than heterosexuality. Even though this is already what I think, its fascinating to find in a book that I skimmed, The Purity Myth, that these ideas are backed up by history and modern politics. Both the history behind the tradition of a father walking down the aisle with the bride (handing the virgin off to another man's ownership), and the effects of federal laws on national sex education that don't necessarily prevent or ban untrue medical "facts" or made up statistics. I didn't particularly enjoy the book for all the immature sarcasm and generalizations of christians or conservatives it made, but I took away from it the idea that its always in ones best interest to be aware of why traditions or norms are the way they are: They could have some not-so-humble origins.
