Elizabeth Raine is the pseudonym of a 27-year-old medical student who, having held on to her virginity for all this time, is going to auction it off to the highest bidder.
Retaining her virginity up until her late twenties was never any sort of holier-than-thou intention, just an accident she can now cash in on: ‘Many women are raised believing they should hold on to their virginity and that it’s something that’s important for their marriage, for their relationship,’ she told Elite Daily. 'It's a measure of how good they are as a person. I never believed that and I never intentionally tried to stay a virgin. It just really happened this way.’
So why did she decide to sell it? ‘Money is my motivation, but by no means do I need the money. I’m pretty safe and secure financially,’ she's said, stating she hopes to earn more than $400,000 (£241,000) from the auction. However, she insists she'll give 35 per cent of the proceeds to charities. ‘I know a lot of other people, for instance, women who don’t have an education, who will never have an opportunity like this. I guess for peace of mind, it just makes me happy to give some back.’
Although she’s happy to do it, she's not entirely comfortable with disclosing her whole identity – because she's afraid of the backlash. “The stigma that surrounds [sex work] did give me a lot of pause. Since then, I’ve sort of just said: “to hell with it, I’m just going to do what I want to.” But I'm trying to avoid the consequences. That’s why I’m staying anonymous.'
She has told her family, though, but only when she was certain she’d be selling her virginity to the highest bidder: ‘It’s just something that’s harder to tell your family. So I waited until things were pretty much a sure, done deal.’
The auction starts on the 1 April (yes, we are very much aware it's April Fools' Day, but she won't be the first student to auction off her virginity, it's totally A Thing, for better or for worse), and will run for a month.
We’d love to find out more details, but Elizabeth’s website has crashed. This very well might have something to do with the interviewer fawning over her as ‘a venerable beauty, standing now at a slender 5’10” with emerald eyes that perfectly complement her multi-tonal blonde locks.’ Or just the depressing fact that a lot of people want to bid on someone's virginity.
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.