Virginity was something that was generally valued. Marriage is a holy matrimony, remember? In this society, we kept the tradition of marriage but did away with the idea of it being solely related to religion.

So for people who aren't Christian, technically they shouldn't even be getting married in the first place. Them having sex before marriage also means nothing.

For Christians, being a virgin is equated with being pure and innocent, or untainted. Having sex before marriage means you were soiled by the imperfect world, this especially applies to girls. Once two people are married, they are bound by a Godly sort of holy thing anyway, so they can have sex and still keep the purity they had from being a virgin.

__________________