You never forget your first time

As the new millennium edition of "Beverly Hills 90210" rolls out of studios this fall, people are having fond flashbacks to the original. Blog sites have popped up on the Web dedicated to reminiscing over favorite moments from the show's first run. Watchers of the first series — now in their late 20s and early 30s — can't get enough of the stonewashed jeans and big bangs memories. Every poster has a favorite episode, but the one that keeps making the rounds, not surprisingly, involves Brenda's first time. "I still remember the episode that Brenda lost her virginity to Dylan after prom (it was actually the Spring Dance) and the black dress with white bow she wore," says a 35-year-old self-proclaimed teen drama addict on blogs.news.com.

The episode was revolutionary, says a Slate.com article. "The most shocking part was that (Brenda) shows no remorse," the article reads. "After the episode aired, angry parents called network affiliates to complain. Clearly, the problem was that a female character was enjoying sex, because Brandon had lost his virginity earlier in the season with no backlash."

Despite that brief outcry, people in the U.S. today are mostly mum on the issue of virginity. Its young celebrities have started dragging virginity out of the hush-hush background and into the spotlight. Pop superstar trio the Jonas Brothers sport purity rings and tween sensation Miley Cyrus told Extra last year, "I'm living my life the way I believe is right and that is to stay pure" (that was before her racy Vanity Fair photo shoot). Of course, not everyone can live up to such high standards of righteousness (just ask Bristol Palin).

By contrast, the French — shamelessly seductive and flagrantly sexual people — love to talk about losing their virginity. In a college junior-year French Lit class, we read Marguerite Duras's "L'Amant" ("The Lover"). The narrator described losing her virginity in broad, symbolic terms: "The sea, formless, simply incomparable."

"Boff," the professor said in exasperation. He threw his hands up and blew a puff of hair through his thick mustache. He surveyed the class and asked, "Is this how it is? Is this what your first time was like?" His eyes settled on mine. "I think not," he said.

For all of their fervor, the French have nothing on the Japanese. Although Arthur Golden's "Memoirs of a Geisha" has been scrutinized for factual inaccuracies (as Golden says, it's fiction, people), his description of the mizuage ceremony is rooted in fact. The mizuage occurs when a geisha comes of age and prepares for her first sexual suitor. In the novel, the young Sayuri engineers a bidding war, and ultimately sells her virginity for a record price.

Back home in the States, a Sacramento State student is trying to achieve the same success. The 22-year-old, who goes by the assumed name "Natalie Dylan," will auction off her virginity at the Moonlight Bunny Ranch in Nevada (eBay turned her down). "I don't think auctioning my virginity will solve all my problems, but it will create some financial stability," Dylan says.

Let's hope she has a high reserve.

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