Titanic is the best possible defense of the movie's sex scene

People have debated for decades whether or not Rose could have made room for Jack to fit on the door, but another hotly contested point is Rose's virginal status. "Titanic" is set in 1912, a time when, according to Marshall Cavendish's "Sex and Society," 61% of men admit to having had premarital sex compared to just 12% of women. However, the film intentionally leaves Rose's virgin status vague.

When Rose receives the Heart of the Ocean necklace, her 30-year-old fiancé, Cal Hockley (Billy Zane), tells her, "There's nothing I would deny you...if you don't deny me." This line makes it seem like Rose hasn't had sex with him yet, and he hopes to bribe her with a huge piece of jewelry to have premarital sex. I've always believed Rose was a virgin, and Cal is rightfully an asshole for trying to bribe his future engaged teenage wife to fuck him (among other reasons). I've heard people describe his character as "cartoonishly evil," which tells me they've never known an abusive, empowered man like Cal. Lucky.

During breakfast, he berates her for attending a third-class party with Jack instead of fucking him. "I had hoped you would come to me last night," he told her. "I was tired," she replies. He exerts his controlling behavior, yelling at her and tearing down the fancy dishes on the table in a rage so that she doesn't behave as expected. She is his "wife in practice if not yet by law" and tells him she must "honor him as a wife is bound to honor a husband". It certainly looks like a lack of submission and sex. Rose understands the power and societal importance of her own virginity, so her decision to take control on her own cannot be ignored.