"Italian model to sell virginity..."

by Holly Rae Smith

An Italian model who's Catholic and swears she has never had sex plans to sell her virginity for one million euros, or £792,000. Holly Rae Smith wonders what a girl's take on this might be. Is it time to adopt a buffalo stance?

There I was, harmlessly logging into MSN in order to indulge in my daily routine of appearing offline while I check my e-mails and attempt to dodge the ever-persistent MSN live today news. I use the word "news" in the loosest of ways, as normally I couldn't give a rat's arse about Victoria Beckham's hair or how my sleeping position determines the future of my romantic relationships. Today, however, was different.

"Italian model to sell virginity"

Right under "10 modern dating pitfalls" and pictures of "Kate's roller disco". Italian model, Raffella Fico, is going to sell her virginity for 1 million Euros, apparently to pay for a nice flat in Rome and some acting lessons.

First, I was thinking, well, good on her. She's getting where she wants to go, isn't she? People do crazy shit like this all the time, selling their eggs and letting scientists play about with their innards and whatnot. It's her body and as long as she's happy who gives a crap? Thing is, the more I think about it and the more I read about her attitude, I'm starting to wonder just how much damage this woman is actually doing?

Now, firstly, I know that the student lifestyle can pull on the purse strings. Just yesterday I was rejoicing at the discovery of 7p yoghurt from ASDA. But isn't selling your virginity going a bit too far? Maybe I'm an idealist but I still remember the silly amounts of pressure that I put on myself about my virginity. Not pressure to lose it but to make sure that the experience was perfect. Well, not perfect maybe but not scarring at least. This girl could get any old crazy bastard to "buy" her for the night and she'll get no say in the matter once money has changed hands! When people in films sell their souls to the devil, that tricky bastard always finds a way to twist it against their will. That's what this reminds me of - except there's no director to shout "CUT".

What distressed me most is that she says that, if the lucky bloke's ugly or nasty, she'll just forget about it with a glass of wine. Where do I start? Firstly, some potential experiences could not be forgotten with all the wine in the world. It's an immature and irresponsible reaction. What kind of mindset must this woman be in to have such little regard for her own body?

She's also, according to her family, a devout Catholic. Don't get me wrong, she can worship whatever she wants, whenever she wants but the fact that she's prepared to go against her religious beliefs which apparently mean so much to her proves one of two things. Either she's really, uber desperate to get to Rome - in which case, okay, fair enough but what's wrong with getting a job like the rest of us? Or secondly, she was never that devout in the first place and she's a liar. Who knows what else has been a lie? Maybe this is all some big publicity stunt and this will be actually be the 26th time that she's lost her 'virginity' to a stranger...

It's most likely somewhere in between the two extremes. But even if this does work and she doesn't back out like the last woman who was involved in a case like this did (a Peruvian model turned down a shedload of cash after a change of heart) then let's face it, she's never going to be taken seriously as an actress. This kind of thing will get you noticed but unless she's one of the best bloody actresses that Italy (and the world) has ever seen, it won't be forgotten either. She'd never reach the kind of respect and all-out awe that Ingrid Bergman or any of her modern day successors enjoyed because of this start.

I don't care what Billie Piper says, prostitution is not classy. It's not clever. It's dangerous. And the damage is not limited to Miss Fico's career or soon-to-be-plundered knickers and self-esteem.

People are easily lead by the media and by what girlies-who-make-men-go-gooey say and do. On Raffella's end, selling sex is liberation. A foxy, faux-feminist status boost. On the other end of the scale, a fourteen year old is selling blow jobs to pay for cigarettes after seeing this woman on the telly. Surveys of both male and female prostitutes have shown that only a tiny minority willingly get into prostitution, while the majority say that they wish they could get out. So what on earth has made this woman feel as if it's a legitimate means of getting quick cash?

I hope that the man Fico sells herself to is, for her sake, lovely and wish her the best. But perhaps more importantly, by doing this with her wine-induced amnesia attitude, has she justified an institution which uses and abuses thousands of men and women, worldwide, every day?

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