When it appeared that Lady Jennifer had finished, it was Evellyn Robinson that next raised her hand. Lady Jennifer then nodded towards her to continue. When she spoke, her speech matched her appearance of a Nubian princess. It was very regal and measured.
"Mistress Jennifer, in some ways I feel I have been deceived. From the outside, this kingdom appears morally strict, which is something I feel is necessary in life. Yet what you have shown me in the past three days, I think, is quite different. The sexuality that you have exposed me to has been like nothing I have ever experienced. I can assure you, before you took me in; I had never previously contemplated sex with a woman, let alone engaged in it.
"Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to blame you for my behavior. I have made it a point to rebel against my African-American community's tendency to blame others for our own failings. And one of the areas of my community that I have particularly rejected is the over-sexualized aspect that manifests itself in considering it acceptable for a black woman to be referred to as a 'ho' or a bitch.
"Yet you seem to want me to accept just that. Your comment about how women should be allowed to be as 'slutty as they want to be,' is not what I want to be at all. I'm not that kind of woman, nor do I want to be."
Lady Jennifer responded with, "It seems to me you have two concerns. The first is your perception of our kingdom's morality, and the other is how you perceive yourself sexually. Am I correct?"
"Yes, Mistress Jennifer."
"To begin with, there is nothing fake or phony about how we present ourselves. We are indeed very morally strict. If you believe what you have experienced sexually conflicts with that, then my suggestion is that you reconsider your moral perception of sex.
"We don't look at sex as just about getting a thrill. We use sex as a bonding experience that deepens our commitment to one another. The fact that we also enjoy it is just a pleasant side benefit. There is absolutely nothing trivial about it.
"As for your other concern, I think it is time for another of my husbands Navy analogies." She then turned to her husband, "I think the one about uniforms applies here."
"Of course," he replied to his wife, and then turned to Evellyn. "Before I joined the Navy I was very concerned about the clothes I wore. What I wore was very much about who I was. Once I was in the Navy, and I was required to wear what everyone else was wearing, I was forced to dig deeper into myself to find the real me. I had to find my individuality without regards to superficial things like my appearance. So being forced to wear certain clothes was ultimately a very liberating experience for me.
"In much the same way, you need to see your sexuality as nothing more than a more intimate version of your clothes. Clothes are rarely worn for protection from the elements. They are mostly worn to send messages to other people, and among those messages are how we wish to interact with the people around us. Your sexuality is really no different than that. It's not about who you are, but about how you choose to interact with other people.
"I wore a uniform in the Navy because that was what was required of me to belong in it. The Navy required it of me because they believed that it fostered unit cohesion.
"The same thing can be said about our requirements for your sexual conduct. It is about what we believe is needed to develop the strong bond that we want to foster between all of the members in this kingdom. It's not about who you are, and what you would prefer to do if you were not in this kingdom."
"And I would take it further," Lady Jennifer said. "Women are always complaining about how they don't want to be seen as just sex objects, yet they hold on very tightly to their sexuality as if it defines them. If you are really concerned about being seen as more than just a sex object, then you need to stop identifying yourself by your sexuality."
Marcia and Sandra were the only ones left to raise their hands, and Lady Jennifer decided on Sandra by nodding towards her.
"Mistress Jennifer," the Rubanesque Sandra began. She appeared quite emotional, even on the verge of tears. "My concerns are similar to Evellyn's. I have spent most of my life very proud and protective of my virginity. It was something that I was looking forward to give to my husband on my wedding night, yet you took it from me yesterday morning with the handle of the paddle you used to spank me.
"In some ways I feel I am ruined. I feel that I may as well stay in this kingdom, because the kind of man that I would want outside of this kingdom would never have me now."
Lady Jennifer replied with concern in her voice, "I'm deeply sorry about how you feel. I probably should have talked to you about this at the time, but you seemed to handle what happened very well.
"As for the virtue of virginity… There really is nothing like it in the human experience. Sex is something that we all are going to engage in, yet for many people, the preferred state for the participants is for them to have never experienced it before.
"Looking at women at large within our society, not just within our kingdom, I see nothing wrong with a thirty year old woman who has never had sex with a man because she had never met one worthy of her. I think women in general give it up far too easily. They literally let the men in their lives get away with whatever they want. What few expectations they make of men are actually quite pathetic.
"On the other hand, I consider an eighteen old virgin to be tragedy. A virgin is someone who thinks her state of no experience is something to be admired. They really believe that they are giving something special to the man they will marry, but the reality is they are only giving them an illusion.
"Trust me on this one Sandra, any man who thinks it is important for the woman they marry to be a virgin, is not a man you want anything to do with. Once you're married to such a man, and you are no longer a virgin, he will end up disrespecting you in some manner. These men view virgins as pure, and conversely, non-virgins as contaminated. It is not going to matter to him one bit that he is the reason you are no longer a virgin. All that will matter to him is that you are not."
Lord Jacob then picked up the conversation, "I think all men who want virgins are sexual cowards. They are too afraid to be compared to other men. These men would probably say that it is about insuring the woman has no STDs, or that they can be sure the children produced by the woman are theirs, but I don't buy any of it. Most of these men have no problem fooling around with other woman, so avoiding STDs is a fatuous reason, and I have already told you what I think of men who need to be sure their wife's children are biologically theirs."
Source: reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/2punkk/next_generation_christian_kingdom_ch03_marcia