Natalie Dylan is a role model to Romanian Virginity Auctioneer

Inspired by Natalie Dylan, who has been auctioning off her virginity under the auspices of Nevada's Bunny Ranch brothel, 18-year-old Romanian Alina Percea has put her own virtue up for sale.

Unemployed and based in Germany, Alina is hoping to raise money to support herself, her parents and three siblings. According to The Sun, she's raised 5000 (dollars or euro, not sure) which I guess is a lot of money to her family back in Romania.

A teacher of Alina's has come forward to claim that her virginity is 'a fairy tale' despite Alina's claims to have a certificate from a gynecologist. The host website Gesext has put the bidding on hold until she gets another medical exam.

Readers of this blog know these exams mean nothing, and that virginity is strictly in the eye of the beholder. But really, what's this guy's problem? And how the hell would he know, anyway? Creepy.

These stories are all so depressing, but as we've said before, women selling their bodies to make a living is nothing new. Even one of our correspondents has considered it. Most depressing is that Alina actually hopes an internet virginity auction will help her meet a nice man:

When the auction finishes I will talk to the man who wins on the telephone, and get to know him a little bit before we meet. I’d like us to go away to a hotel for a weekend and to meet up and talk first, so I feel comfortable with him before we go to a room together.

I will see how we get along. But if we like each other, perhaps we will continue to see each other after the first night. If the man does not want to use preservatives (condoms), then I’m prepared to do it without them.

But he must provide a full medical certificate to prove he is free from all STDs. If I have sex without a condom I will take the morning after pill afterwards, as I do not want to become pregnant.

I really hope Alina gets a job and walks away from this sad affair. As Kate Harding wrote in Salon a few months ago:

What I want is a world in which there are no virginity auctions because there are no bidders, because nobody fetishizes a woman's "purity" or actually thinks of a sexually active woman as dirty and spoiled.

More posts on virginity auctions and the murky definition of virgnity.