Starring as the titular Jane the Virgin on the CW's hit show means that Gina Rodriguez knows a thing or two about that special "first time." It also means that she gets the chance to discuss her own sexuality and sex-positivity.
During an interview last week with comedian Phoebe Robinson on the podcast Sooo Many White Guys, Rodriguez opened up about losing her virginity. She revealed that it was a magical, "Mandy Moore movie" kind of experience.
“I lost my virginity, which I feel is pretty early, [when I] was 17,” she said. “It was my boyfriend of a year-ish. We were like high school sweetness. He was leaving [for] Chile to go study abroad and we wanted to lose it to each other. We wanted to make sure that it was special and that we would always have a beautiful memory of it. So I lost my virginity to the sweetest guy, ever. It was pretty magical. It was a magical evening of like, safety. He put on a song, we were at my friend’s farmhouse in...the outskirts of Chicago.”
And when it comes to Jane, Rodriguez said that she's made it a point to portray her character in a sex-positive light, despite the fact that the show's concept rests upon Jane waiting until she's married to have sex.
"The [sexual] desires didn't change; they just were being disciplined," she said of playing Jane. It was important for her, then, to make sure that the show didn't lean on stereotypes about virgins, and to break down the stigma that sometimes associates virginity with prudishness.
“I didn’t want her to lack sexuality; she just was making a commitment, and this kind of commitment is just unpopular in our society,” Rodriguez said. “All we have to do is make it popular. So I really wanted to make Jane badass. She has two dudes that are after her, she likes boys, she wants to have sex, she’s just waiting for the time when it’s going to be in a safe environment to her perspective and to her conviction.”
Rodriguez's take is refreshing, especially in a society that can't always seem to shake the Madonna/whore complex. In reality, women are humans, and sexuality is complicated, to say the least. Being sexually active is nothing to be ashamed of, and neither is being a virgin or remaining abstinent. As hard as it can be not to wonder if you're , the important thing to remember is to make your own choices — with your own health and well-being in mind.