There are many things in life that we consider to be priceless. A loving relationship, a caring family, and good health all make the list - but what else makes the cut? Happiness? Job satisfaction? Confidence?
How about virginity?
Many people count this to be as sacred as their first love, and would probably recoil at the idea of selling off their 'first time' to a complete stranger - but not 19-year-old Giselle. It turns out that she didn't consider her maidenhood to be priceless at all, and quite happily sold it to a man for a whopping $2.9million.
The price was decided on through a bidding war hosted by Cinderella Escorts, a German website which attained a somewhat infamous status last year when an 18-year-old Russian model auctioned off her virginity for $2.7million.
Of all the bids submitted, the highest came from a wealthy businessman from Abu Dhabi, while the second highest ($2.8million) is reported to have come from a Hollywood actor - but Cinderella Escorts is remaining discreet about his identity.
Giselle, a model based in the US, says she is "happy to have decided to sell my virginity through Cinderella Escorts," and that the deal is "a dream come true" for her. With her earnings, she plans to go to college, buy a house, and travel the world.
Essentially, in exchange for having one sexual encounter, she's pretty much set up for life. And who wouldn't want that?
In fact, Giselle considers the deal to be more than just an easy way to make a ton of money; she also sees it as a way to claim her own sexuality and express her bodily autonomy:
"If I want to spend my first time with someone who is not my first love, that's my decision," the model said.
She added: "The fact that women can do what they want with their bodies and have the courage to live their sexuality free against the critics sets a sign for emancipation".
And, really, when you consider how many people regret their first time anyway - is it really such an awful decision to make? As Giselle herself pointed out, "In retrospect, how many would probably give up their first time if they could have 2.5million Euros instead?"
Jan Zakobielski, the 27-year-old man who runs the escort website, has previously said that a woman's virginity is like a "luxury car" or "very old wine", in that people consider it to be a highly valuable commodity.
In a statement, a spokesman for Cinderella Escorts said:
"On our website, you will find a video where girls from all over the world talk about the reasons to sell their virginity.
"[T]he high bidding for Giselle's auction shows us how high the demand for virgins is. Business people from all over the world have been bidding."
Yes, it might seem weird and creepy but, ultimately, Giselle made the decision to sell her first time out of her own free will, and she appears to have spent time carefully making plans with what to do with her money. Some may consider the transaction to be incredibly misogynistic, but - for Giselle and the other escorts, at least - it seems more like feminism.
