If things are getting hot and heavy between you and your sweetheart, but you've sworn to remain chaste until marriage, you might be questioning your decision. After all, what's sex but a normal bodily function? But then again, it has the power to create a new life - that's not something to be taken lightly. The issue is complicated, and it has many sides.

Many argue that the conflation of virginity with purity and goodness is damaging to all women, and reduces us to little more than sex objects who, like a new car, begin to lose their value once they've been ridden in. (Forgive the pun.) They say that it's healthier for gals to embrace their sexuality by enjoying sex safely with as many partners as they please, in or out of matrimony.

Others, however, say that it's worthwhile to encourage women to save their bodies for their husbands. They say that abstinence before marriage can eliminate teen pregnancy and reduce the abortion rate, while forcing men to appreciate women for something other than what's between their legs.

Ultimately, the decision to remain a virgin until one's wedding night is a deeply personal one - and not something that you can seal with a promise ring and a creepy "Purity Ball." It's nobody else's business what your sex life is like, whether it's chaste or wildly raucous, as long as it's the sex life you want.