Philosophy Now Forum

LuckyR wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2025 6:53 am Still waiting to find out how the "confirming the bride's virginity" thing works.

Kaylla wrote: ↑Thu Jan 16, 2025 7:10 pm

LuckyR wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2025 6:53 am Still waiting to find out how the "confirming the bride's virginity" thing works.

Q. Have you ever had sex?
A. No.

There, you have confirmed it. Why would you want to, that is another question.

Kaylla wrote: ↑Thu Jan 16, 2025 7:15 pmWhere I live, most girls learn to ride horses from a young age. Any man who suggested that there is some way to determine if a girl is a virgin would be laughed at - by men and women.

For women, sitting aside on a horse dates back to antiquity. For the main part, men rode horses; women were merely passengers, sitting behind the men, either holding the man around the waist or sitting on a small padded seat or pillion. This was partly due to their long, heavy skirts; it was impractical to ride astride. Also riding side-saddle was seen to preserve the ladies’ modesty.

The idea of it being indecent for a lady to ride astride can be traced back to 1382, when Princess Anne of Bohemia rode side-saddle across Europe on her way to marry King Richard II. Riding side-saddle was seen as a way to protect her virginity. Soon it was considered vulgar for any woman to ride astride.

By the late Middle Ages, it had become obvious that for ladies to ride a horse, a saddle would have to be specially designed to allow the woman to control the horse but still maintain a proper level of decency.

The earliest functional side-saddle was a chair-like construction, where the woman sat sideways on the horse with her feet on a footrest, designed in the late 14th century. Catherine de Medici is said to have developed a more practical design in the 16th century. Rather than keeping both feet placed side by side on the footrest, she placed her right leg over the pommel of the saddle, so as to show off her shapely ankle and calf to their best advantage! Riding this way allowed the rider much more control of the horse and even allowed the rider to trot and canter safely.

promethean75 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 17, 2025 3:05 pm All that trouble for nothing. Imagine the pain in the ass it was to rig up that special saddle all because an unruptured hymen had been mythologized to be some sacred thing.

Another thing that is horrible - now that we're on strange irrational human behaviors caused by religion - is how the Muslims have to pray FIVE times a day on a rug.

Kaylla wrote: ↑Mon Jan 20, 2025 2:43 am The only place I have seen women riding side-saddle is in movies or tv series set a long time ago.

I have certainly never seen a side-saddle in real life, not even in a museum. Any man suggesting that women should ride side-saddle would be laughed at pretty much anywhere in the world these days.