Is Virginity As Big Of A Deal As It Used To Be?

Dr. Zoe Peterson, an associate professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, believes that for most people, virginity -- and losing it -- is considered one of three things: a gift, a curse or a rite of passage.

But in 2015, is being a virgin -- or losing your virginity -- still believed to be as sacred or scary as it once was?

To find out, HuffPost Love+Sex Podcast hosts Carina Kolodny and Noah Michelson chatted with Dr. Peterson to learn more about how we culturally approach and think about having sex for the first time. They also spoke with a 23-year-old gay virgin from Maryland who discussed why he's still a virgin:

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