She's Horny and ready to have sex!

I'm not sure what to make of “Natalie Dylan,” the San Diego-raised woman who's auctioning off her virginity and so far has gotten a high bid of $3.8 million.

Is she a fledging tart?

Or very, very smart?

Natalie Dylan isn't her real name. She's concealing her identity as she goes about this quest, which, she says, is to raise money for her education.

She's 22.

And – she swears – a virgin.

There are only two potential truths here: Either she's that rare young person who's managed to resist the pressures in today's society to engage in premarital sex.

Or she's lying.

Well, she says it's true, and she's even taken a polygraph test. She's also willing to undergo a medical exam.

I got hold of her through the Moonlite Bunny Ranch near Carson City, Nev., where she plans to lose her virginity because prostitution is legal there. The brothel is running the auction, which Dylan kicked off by going on Howard Stern's satellite radio show last September.

Her sister worked at the Bunny Ranch for a while, too. Dylan says that's how she got the idea to use the place for the auction. (One sister is a hooker; the other a virgin. But by selling sex they have found common ground. How touching.)

Dylan claims to have grown up in the “La Jolla area,” which can't be verified, of course. She wouldn't say what high school she attended.

Her story – with its blend of sex, commerce and concealed identity – is generating a media and Internet frenzy. CNN, U.S. newspapers and England's The Guardian, which called it “a sad story, through and through,” have done reports. Countless blogs have picked it up.

The weird thing is that Dylan's photograph is easily accessible on the Internet, but apparently no one has come forward to say, “Hey, I know that girl.”

And I have to wonder: Is she selling more than just her virginity? With all the media play her story's gotten, are we the ones being played?

On the phone, Dylan sounded earnest, intelligent, funny ... and practical.
“I see it as a business transaction,” Dylan said.

She has an undergraduate degree in women's studies from Sacramento State University and is hoping to earn her master's degree in marriage and family therapy.

Dylan said she started studying virginity and how it's perceived by different cultures as part of a future thesis project. In the old days, a virgin could fetch a larger dowry. But the goods went to the father, who, in essence, was pimping his daughter, she says. So if her virginity has value, why shouldn't she be the one to benefit?

Her argument, if she's on the level, can be compelling. She's not going to make a career of selling her body, she says. It's a one-time deal.

A women's studies professor at Sacramento State, which confirms Dylan was a student there, sounded kind of wishy-washy about the whole thing.

“As faculty, we neither condemn nor condone Natalie Dylan's decision,” Sujatha Moni said through an e-mail. “She is merely trying to cash in on society's sexist attitudes. While she may feel a personal sense of accomplishment, I cannot interpret her act as either emancipatory or progressive.”

My take: She's giving her a C.

In addition to the offer of $3.8 million, Dylan says she has received more than 15 bids of $1 million or more. The highest bidder doesn't necessarily win her; she chooses the one.

But who knows how many offers are legit?

Some men have proposed marriage in lieu of money, Dylan says. A few men have claimed to be virgins and offered her a “fair trade.” Some women have been harsh, but some have been supportive, telling her she's being shrewd.

Dylan told me she didn't mean to stay a virgin this long. She was taught growing up that it's important to save oneself for that someone special or for marriage, but remaining a virgin was never any sort of high-minded goal.

She's had boyfriends, but the relationships simply never went that far.

So here she is at 22, a virgin.

Her mother, who no longer lives in the area, has been understanding. This is not something she would do, but she's not being critical, her daughter said.

Dylan is not certain when she's going to do the deed for dollars. Right now, opportunities are still presenting themselves. A book and movie deal could be in the works.