First of all, congrats on getting a boyfriend! I know it's all the more satisfying for you given that I know you have felt extremely lonely at times.

May I ask if your decision to wait until marriage is based on religious/cultural beliefs, or just a personal preference?

As for myself, I felt bad mostly because I was scared I would be forever alone and unwanted. That's also a consequence of virgin-shaming - it relies upon the assumption that since sex is so desired by everyone, that if you can't get it by a certain age, you must be undesirable in some way, and potential partners would do well to steer clear of you. That's a pretty awful assumption to make, and ironically, it feeds into depression and neuroses that cause people in that situation to refrain from dating or to present themselves badly, further isolating them romantically and sexually and trapping them in a vicious cycle.

I just wish that the pendulum can be turned back somewhat - while we shouldn't go back to the old days of shaming people for premarital sex or anything, there shouldn't be any shame or stigma over sexual inexperience, regardless of age or gender. Is it really so important to people that they're willing to make it a dealbreaker? That's incredibly shallow and I don't understand it. Maybe then we'll see less depression and more hope from those who are virgins later in life if there weren't so many bad assumptions made about them which impact their dating chances.