# Can a woman who's had children realistically play a virgin? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 18, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867 "2013-07-18T17:55:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/21 "2013-07-18T19:30:13Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Challenge accepted! Curse you, now my co-workers want to know what I’m laughing at. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/22 "2013-07-18T19:33:19Z")
the OP is clearly serious - it says so in the OP in ALL CAPS… ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/23 "2013-07-18T19:33:50Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > IMHO, we’re being whooshed. Maybe. I knew a woman who had delivered three children vaginally. She was neat and tight, could easily have portrayed some fictional virgin. A black virgin, shaved and pierced. But neat and tight and perky between the legs. And then there’s hymen reconstruction. I’m not going to link it, and I don’t recommend googling it. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/24 "2013-07-18T19:34:19Z")
However, a heavily pregnant actress can probably not portray a virgin effectively. Back in the '80’s I was working on the road production of Pirates of Penzance. It turned out that one of the women in the chorus had been 3 months pregnant when she was hired. Now, the women portrayed by the chorus ( Mabel’s sister’s ) are definitely virgns ( at least at the beginning of Act 1 )and the producers felt that having a visibly pregnant women in that role would distract the audience and be unintentionally funny. They fired her. She threatened to sue. I don’t think they ever followed up though. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/25 "2013-07-18T19:39:42Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > What about non-virgins that haven’t had kids yet? Where do they fit in your vagina-scale? Or virgins who have had kids? Y’know, Mary, IVF, turkey-baster lesbians, that girl in the wrong hot tub that time…? ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/26 "2013-07-18T19:45:40Z")
What the hell is going on in this thread. OP, are you of sane mind? So…you are telling us that if you watched Meryl Streep play Sister Aloysius in **Doubt** , knowing that Meryl Streep is the proud mother of three daughters, you would be distracted by obsessive thoughts about the state of Meryl Streep’s vagina and could not accept her in the role of a virgin Catholic nun? Is this what you’re saying? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/27 "2013-07-18T19:46:19Z")
Or virgins who own and utilize an 18"DHIBJD? I can honestly state that I have never had my enjoyment or lack thereof of a actor’s performance affected by the imagined elasticity of their vagina. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/28 "2013-07-18T19:47:33Z")
The producers of 1943’s \*Song of Bernadette \*did catch some flack for casting Linda Darnell as the Virgin Mary. Though Ms. Darnell never had children, she was a frequent pinup model and her personal life was not renowned for its chastity. For the most part, though, viewers cut her some slack in the role - so to speak. > [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > So…you are telling us that if you watched Meryl Streep play Sister Aloysius in **Doubt** , knowing that Meryl Streep is the proud mother of three daughters, you would be distracted by obsessive thoughts about the state of Meryl Streep’s vagina and could not accept her in the role of a virgin Catholic nun? Up to this moment, I had never once thought of Meryl Streep’s vagina. I could have gone the rest of my life in such blissful apathy…until now. Gee, thanks **GF**. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/29 "2013-07-18T19:48:22Z")
Unless the woman is actually visibly pregnant, I’m going to say yes, yes a woman who’s had children can realistically play a virgin. Shoot, with make up, camera angles and such, I would guess that even a pregnant woman could play one maybe… (I have a hazy memory of Scully in mind when I say this) ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/30 "2013-07-18T19:50:33Z")
I mean, Shirley Jones was very much pregnant by the time they were shooting the lovey-dovey stuff like the bridge scene in The Music Man, so they just corseted her to hell and back. I don’t know what they would have done today. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/31 "2013-07-18T19:57:44Z")
> [@Claire98909](#): > > THIS QUESTION IS 100% SERIOUS! For example, suppose a woman has had five kids vaginally. Could that woman convincingly play a virgin? Are the viewers supposed to look past the fact that the woman has a loose vagina, and imagine that, underneath her clothes, her character is neat and tight down there? > > Is the “rule” basically that, if the body part cannot be shown on television, it’s up to the imagination of the viewer as to what they think it should look like on the character? I… what? Aside from a basic inability to grok the definition of “fiction” or “acting,” I’m a bit perturbed that apparently you spend a great deal of time thinking about what the naughty bits of actresses look like. Or, um, feel like. Other than age (someone who’s 40 will probably not be able to pass as 18), I can’t imagine what you’d think you’d see on a person that definitively reveals their sexual status to you, even in real life. And age isn’t even definitively correlated with sexual status. I’ve played a mother on a few occasions, and I’ve never had kids. No one found my portrayal unconvincing, however, because, you know, _acting._ No one is going to, I don’t know, measure my vaginal canal on TV. Aside from the FCC and just generally being tasteless, I can’t imagine a circumstance where such a thing serves the story – outside of porn, which is not a story as much as it’s ABOUT getting the close-up view of bits on screen. > [@DrFidelius](#): > > OP. do you have any examples of actresses whose portrayal of a virgin was ruined by their giant floppy vaginas? Perhaps with YouTube clips? This post is full of win. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/32 "2013-07-18T19:59:20Z")
Audrey Hepburn got an Oscar nomination for The Nun’s Story in 1959. She had married Jose Ferrer in 1954, and was almost certainly not a virgin when she married (she had an affair with the married William Holden, had been engaged even earlier than that). ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/33 "2013-07-18T20:05:10Z")
> [@Claire98909](#): > > THIS QUESTION IS 100% SERIOUS! No its not. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/34 "2013-07-18T20:08:01Z")
Yes. They are called Actors. They pretend to be characters that are different from them because that is their profession. It is what they DO. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/35 "2013-07-18T20:20:49Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > PS - hurray for adoption, all the offspring with 50% less vaginal stretching! Only 50% less?! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/36 "2013-07-18T20:23:03Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > So…you are telling us that if you watched Meryl Streep play Sister Aloysius in **Doubt** , knowing that Meryl Streep is the proud mother of three daughters, you would be distracted by obsessive thoughts about the state of Meryl Streep’s vagina and could not accept her in the role of a virgin Catholic nun? If anyone could pull it off, it’s Meryl Streep. She has a method vagina. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/37 "2013-07-18T20:25:28Z")
Well, Clark Gable played Rhett Butler, despite the fact that he was known for being “a lousy lay.” ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/38 "2013-07-18T20:36:59Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > What the hell is going on in this thread. OP, are you of sane mind? > > So…you are telling us that if you watched Meryl Streep play Sister Aloysius in **Doubt** , knowing that Meryl Streep is the proud mother of three daughters, you would be distracted by obsessive thoughts about the state of Meryl Streep’s vagina and could not accept her in the role of a virgin Catholic nun? > > Is this what you’re saying? Wasn’t the character Streep played a widow? And very likely not a virgin? ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/39 "2013-07-18T20:51:07Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > \*Do-Re-Mi-Va-So-La-Ti-Do > > Mi - a name I call myself > Va - \* Va - a gina nice and loose ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/40 "2013-07-18T20:56:33Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > \*Do-Re-Mi-Va-So-La-Ti-Do > > Mi - a name I call myself > Va - \* Va - a floppy gaping hole… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867.md?page=3)