According to statistics published by the World Health Organization, more than 350 million people have depression. In terms of economic impact, the global costs of mental health problems were approximately US $2.5 trillion in 2010. By 2030, it is estimated that the costs will increase further to US $6.0 trillion. [CITED-Akkapon Wongkoblap, Miguel A Vadillo, Vasa Curcin 2017]

Once the 2000 apocalypse never hit planet Earth, some claim a new virus plagued civilization. This virus was the advance of digitalization. With the foundation of social media, Facebook and Instagram alike, our world expanded, and little did man know, it would never be the same again. Today, every person from age 7 and up can navigate accounts and access the internet. Even with restrictions put up, the side effects of longevity spent online are seen spanning across age groups, most prevalent effects being an increase in mental health disorders.

In 2020, there are an estimated 3.8 billion social media users worldwide, representing half the global population (We Are Social 2020). Similarly, there is mounting evidence showing high rates of social media use among individuals with mental disorders, including studies looking at engagement with these popular platforms across diverse settings and disorder types. (Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science). Let us look at the disorders stemming from exposure to the internet.

Social media is well known to promote unhealthy standards of beauty and wealth. Viewing the endless algorithm of posts and videos online, most of which are doctored and filtered heavily, we can understand how it must seem to an adolescent who is not aware of the same. They are brought up to think that those are the benchmarks to be met, thus inviting an environment of insecurity around young minds. This unattainable criterion is what drives many adolescents as well as young adults into eating disorders, depression and suicide, as people start feeling like they are not valuable enough in society.

Another detrimental effect is the haunting addiction that most people develop. Attachment to incessant scrolling and posting online causes anxiety of failure to attract and loneliness in the long run. When detached from their devices, they feel anxious to return and fail to perform in social settings. This leads to increased introversion, lack of interpersonal skills and reduction in offline relationships. Lockdown studies indicate that people seemed to forget their communication, presentation and societal habits in their confinement.

Speaking of relationships, social media also presents a new danger in the prevailing issue of child abuse. Predators lurking online attack minors, leading to many children being groomed. This leads to PTSD, relationship and trust issues in children.

Recent studies have discussed how digital media can promote, instigate, and encourage violence such as cyberbullying and gang violence, especially in the preteen and teenage population. Similarly, digital media use impacts suicide rates, in some cases encouraging the act. Several studies demonstrated a correlation between an increase in social media use and risk of suicide. Headlines on large media outlets implicate cyberbullying as the cause for many suicides among young teenagers. [CITED- Social Media and Suicide: A Review of Technology-Based Epidemiology and Risk Assessment 2019].

Summarizing the above, the impact of social media in the new age has vast advantages to mankind’s evolution. However, one must be access wisely and in moderation to avoid problems in the upcoming future.

Article 368 of the Indian Constitution clearly states the powers of elected parliament to amend the constitution and amendment procedure.

ARTICLE 368                                                                                                                            (1) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, Parliament may in exercise of its constituent power amend by way of addition, variation or repeal any provision of this Constitution in accordance with the procedure laid down in this article.

Since Independence, India has seen major parliamentary changes and constant amendment of the Constitution. Some historic amendments involve the 7^th, 25^th, the enraging 1975-38^th and 39^th , and most importantly the mini constitution, i.e the 42^nd (whose provisions were mostly repealed by the 44^th, brought by 1978 Janata Party) amendments. Let us look at the 73^rd and 74^th amendments of 1992.

The 73^rd and 74^th Constitutional Amendments was brought by the Indian National Congress (Prime Minister- P.V. Narasimha Rao).

73^rd Amendment-                                                                                                                      The key changes involved the constitutional guarantee of Panchayati Raj in India. This provision provided rights, powers, status and legitimacy to the village-level self-governance in our country.                                                                                            For the same, schedule XI (11^th schedule) and part IX- Articles 243; 243 A to 243 O were added.

74^th Amendment-                                                                                                                        After the guarantee of Panchayati Raj, the 74^th Amendment provided status to Municipality in India.                                                                                                              This provision gave sanctity to block and city-level governance. It assigned powers and roles, along with limits to municipal governments.                                                      For the same, schedule XII (12^th schedule) and part IX- A- Articles 243 P to 243 ZG were added.

These changes helped shape the Indian executive in the 21^st century decades to follow. Thus, we see the significance of the 73^rd and 74^th amendments in Indian history.

Quoting the theoretical paper “Development of the Virginity Beliefs Scale” by Jonas Eriksson and Terry P. Humphreys, “Carpenter (2002, 2005) suggested a model of three virginity metaphors that describe how individuals perceive their virginity: gift, stigma, and process.” To break it down, a universal culture cultivated over hundreds of years has made the concept of virginity contradictory to its own self; something is not to be spoken of, yet a precious thing to safeguard, as once broken can never be brought back. Interestingly, human society has succeeded in making this intangible concept an object, that too one of shameful desire.

Sex and love have been entwined by emotion for centuries, by factors ruling human community. It began with biological confusion, to protect a woman since there prevailed no modern understanding on reproductive health. Then came the concept of abstinence, as a religious affair driven by most aristocracies. Women were socially condemned and caged if these regulations were not followed seriously, even barred from marriage.

In the decades that followed, virginity was embraced to become a sign of loyalty and purity by most partners. If we oversimplify the series of events, we can say that the Renaissance also served to help widespread the idea of sex to be romantic. The romanticism of private relations soon spanned through popular media and literature all over the world.

We can see that sex and love are clearly linked in twentieth century sexual history, leading to the emergence of a paradigm Jodi Ann McAlister (Thesis 2022) terms “compulsory demisexuality”. The development of this paradigm – which dictates that for women, sex and love are intrinsically linked together, and that sex without love is unnatural and harmful – has affected the way women think about sex. This is not a study of empirical data: rather, it is a study of stories, and the way their evolution has impacted cultural attitudes.

Thus, through the study of historic culture and human emotion, we can say that sex and love are not just entwined with one another but are taught to be one and the same. If one does not abstain, one is unfaithful. Their character is decided as disgraceful and ugly, their worth not to be discussed on their work. Women have been devalued based on their sexual nature time and again, in most fields such as politics, STEM, education, business, etc. Their ‘purity’ is a sign of family honor, chastity and moral values.

Hence, the history of stigmatizing a woman’s body and modern dynamics all come into play to understand the concept of female virginity. Now we understand how these factors come together, teaching society how to view a women’s virginity as a sign of purity and love towards their partner.