# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/81 "2013-07-19T13:56:16Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > I’ve never seen so many people volunteer to hop into a Procrustean bed. We’re trying to stretch this whole thing out. Or given the OP, maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/82 "2013-07-19T13:58:29Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > …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… Dang! What a missed opportunity for the producers. That \*would \*have been hilarious. Gilbert would not have been amused, but Arthur Seymour Sullivan would have laughed his ass off. > [@StusBlues](#): > > 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. Well, the BVM\* is a whole nother case. ONLY virgins and those who plan to stay virgins for the rest of their lives should be allowed to play her. That would severely limit the pool of available actresses but \<_shrug_\>. \*Blessed Virgin Mary ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/83 "2013-07-19T15:20:26Z")
Back to the OP, I think as long as she can blush prettily upon being presented to a charming suitor, swoon at the sight of bodily fluids, and keep her damn mouth shut when her betters are speaking, she should be able to pull it off. So to speak. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/84 "2013-07-19T15:21:43Z")
Also, > [@Finagle](#): > > I’ve never seen so many people volunteer to hop into a Procrustean bed. win. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/85 "2013-07-19T21:07:40Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > Ice. As in Ice Blue. > > [FYI: A lady's corset provides minimal protection against a dildo attack. - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=266235) > I was impressed at the fantastic memory Inner Stickler displayed. Thank you. I couldn’t get search with any part of it as keywords to go back further than 2007. Ice. Don’t forget the ice. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/86 "2013-07-19T21:46:56Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > …but not because of floppy nachos south of the border… …because of…what?! :eek: ☹ And right when I ran out of brain bleach. Talk about a visual that was _not_ needed. As for the OP, I really do wonder how OP’s like that work in the online world. My working assumption is that it is to some website’s advantage to start a goofy, whooshable thread like this - but I can’t figure out why. How might it increase traffic to a website? Between OP’s like this and the completely random zombie thread revivifications we see regularly, I really do wonder about the Internet… ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/87 "2013-07-20T02:22:44Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > _anas platyrhynchos_ :eek: Boy did I misread that, I thought the thread had gone in a whole new direction. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/88 "2013-07-20T03:17:50Z")
Inspired by **aNewLeaf** : I knew a woman who had delivered three children vaginally Who tried to portray Joan of Arc quite imaginitively, But, God bless her heart, Her loose lady parts, Turned the show to a comedy, tragically. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/89 "2013-07-20T03:23:18Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Well, the BVM\* is a whole nother case. ONLY virgins and those who plan to stay virgins for the rest of their lives should be allowed to play her. That would severely limit the pool of available actresses but \<_shrug_\>. This actually was a controversy when _The Nativity Story_ was released in 2006. Keisha Castle-Hughes played Mary. And then between the time she made the movie and when it was released, she got pregnant with her boyfriend and showed up at promotional events for the movie visibly pregnant. And some people freaked out over the idea that an actress who had played the Virgin Mary was out having sex in the real world (and admittedly they were also freaked out that she was only sixteen). ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/90 "2013-07-20T03:36:48Z")
My mind is so boggled by the thought of the OP trying to get through her day over the din of the flapping of all the ruined vaginas around her that I’m really regretting reading this (while on Percocet) after reading the thread about Percocet causing vivid dreams and nightmares. I daren’t close my eyes tonight, Fellow Dopers, for fear of what dreams I might encounter. All those women portraying nuns in The Sound of Music…now we know what the sound was… ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/91 "2013-07-20T03:43:46Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > All those women portraying nuns in The Sound of Music…now we know what the sound was… Ooh, and what about the _Flying_ Nun? Sorry. I’m not helping, am I? ---
**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 20, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/92 "2013-07-20T04:09:21Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > :eek: Boy did I misread that, I thought the thread had gone in a whole new direction. Found it on Wikipedia. The number of syllables seems right, but I have no idea if the stresses are correct for a double dactyl. ---
**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 20, 2013, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/93 "2013-07-20T04:28:52Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > […] but I have no idea if the stresses are correct for a double dactyl. Thats not a phrase you expect to see in a thread about vaginal elasticity. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/94 "2013-07-20T05:13:45Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > All those women portraying nuns in The Sound of Music…now we know what the sound was… Maybe that’s why the Reverend Mother called Maria a cunt-face. ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/95 "2013-07-20T15:38:54Z")
They use a stunt coochie. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/96 "2013-07-20T20:01:53Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > All those women portraying nuns in The Sound of Music…now we know what the sound was… How do you solve a problem like loose vaginas? How do you stop that flapping sound? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/97 "2013-07-20T23:29:09Z")
> [@coffeecat](#): > > They use a stunt coochie. You mean they couldn’t expense a quality tuck proceedure as a production cost…? :eek: 😉 There once was an actress from Heath, 3 kids & bits like roasted beef, Her voice was first-rate, Her timing was great, But she’d blow out the flood-lights with Queef! ---
**Author:** ![Claire98909](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Claire98909](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire98909)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/98 "2013-07-21T01:31:31Z")
Basically, even though the actress no longer has a hymen, can it be assumed that the character still does, even though the character and the actress are sharing the same body? ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/99 "2013-07-21T01:35:01Z")
If a character hasn’t had an appendectomy, can someone who has play her? How about if an actor has had fillings - can he play a historical figure? What about tonsillectomies? Which world do you live in, exactly? ---
**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 21, 2013, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867/100 "2013-07-21T02:15:29Z")
> [@Claire98909](#): > > Basically, even though the actress no longer has a hymen, can it be assumed that the character still does, even though the character and the actress are sharing the same body? uh, what? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-woman-whos-had-children-realistically-play-a-virgin/663867.md?page=6)