SAN DIEGO, CA — A student hoping to pursue a graduate degree in women’s studies plans to auction her virginity to the highest bidder to pay for her education.Natalie Dylan, 22, established a private auction through the Moonlight Bunny Ranch, a legal brothel in Nevada. To date, she said, she has been offered as much as $3.7 million for the privilege of a one-night-stand she can have only once. The bid was placed by a 39-year-old Australian, Dylan told CNN, but she hasn’t decided to accept his offer.
Dylan admitted she doesn’t understand the high value some people place on virginity, but she is willing to undergo medical tests to prove her chastity. She also said she doesn’t view the auction as immoral.
“I feel people should be pro-choice with their body, and I’m not hurting anyone,” she told CNN. “It really comes down to a moral and religious argument, and this doesn’t go against my religion or my morals. There’s no right or wrong to this.”
Raised in a conservative, non-Christian religious home, Dylan said her family doesn’t agree with her decision, but they’re supportive. Outsiders, however, haven’t hesitated to criticize.
“I know that a lot of people will condemn me for this because it’s so taboo, but I really don’t have a problem with that,” she told the U.K.’s Telegraph. “My study is completely authentic in that I truly am auctioning my virginity, but I am not being sold into this. I’m not being taken advantage of in any way.”
Dylan said she was inspired to mount the auction after her 23-year-old sister Avia paid for her entire college education by working as a prostitute at the Moonlight Bunny Ranch for three weeks.
The auction has garnered global attention and mixed reactions, Dylan said. She has received offers not only from some men she described as “weirdos,” but also “lots of polite requests from rich businessmen.” She doesn’t see the auction leading her down a path to ruin.
“I’ve talked with my exes, some different guys, and they understand it’s just a business deal, and they know me, and they know I’m not this promiscuous girl,” Dylan told CNN. “Honestly, even if I didn’t do this, I’d always be the girl who thinks prostitution is OK. I would always want to find a partner that can accept me for me.”
