The virginity complex: ‘There was an unspoken thing that this was something we were going to get over with before college’

Three months into their relationship, Robbie Lawlor and his girlfriend decided to ditch college for the day and have sex for the first time. They were both 18, being responsible, had been dating for a while and had decided the time was right for them to sleep together — their first time, both as a couple and as virgins. Aside from skipping school, the scenario was pretty perfect in ticking many of the rules that often surround when is ‘right’ for first-time sex.

But something didn’t feel quite right for Lawlor. “I remember in my head I was thinking ‘Oh s**t, oh s**t, oh s**t’,” he recalls. “She was gorgeous, and I did have feelings for her and, in some ways, it felt like after always hearing the lads talking about bodies and girls with such ferocity, this was my moment to join The Club.



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