Debunking Virginity Myth: Hymen Breaks, Disappears and Vagina Bleeds

Oct 3, 2017: Many of us grew up holding that 'hymen' is a proof of virginity. In many societies, women are demanded to be virgins until marriage. The intact hymen confirms that a woman is a virgin. However, not many of us know that science has long back dodged hymen myths. Then why are we still holding back to such fallacious claims about female virginity? Lately, 'The Virginity Fraud' was discussed upon the world's famous talk platform TEDx by Ellen Støkken Dahl (25) and Nina Dølvik Brochmann (29), medical students, sexual health workers and the authors of the book 'The Wonder Down Under' (science book about female genitals).

According to the speakers, the virginity dilemma revolves around two hymen myths- Hymen breaks and bleeds the first time women have vaginal sex, and if it does not bleed, it connotes that the girl wasn't a virgin. The second myth tells that the hymen disappears after it breaks. The anatomical understanding of virginity have lived on for centuries and passed on to generations after generations. Girls are being edified not to lose virginity before marriage or preserve their virginities for their husbands. A typical wedding night is also the judgment night of the bride's sexuality. Women are often being shamed and humiliated and sometimes killed for virginity.

Cultural Significance of Virginity & an In-Tact Hymen

You might have wondered that why is virginity so important? It is because virginity has cultural significance, according to the speaker, it has been used as a powerful tool to control women's sexuality in every culture, religion, and history. In many cultures, virginity has been connected with special powers, such as the ability to medically cure people with ailments, while others profess losing virginity a taboo.

Fear of Surgical Revirgination:

Busting Hymen Myths

The hymen is a rim of tissue at the outer opening of the vagina and has either a doughnut or half moon shape with a large central hole. Speaker explains that this is not even the exact shape of the hymen. It has myriads of forms, and therefore it's hard to execute a virginity check. The hymen is elastic in form and can never disappear, however, it can only stretch to make space for sexual intercourse. Since hymen come in every shape and form, it is unlikely to know that a dent or a fold was because of previous damage or it's just a normal anatomical variant.

The finding was discovered hundred years ago, in 1906, by the Norwegian Dr. Marie Jeancet, who examined a middle-aged sex worker and noted that her genitalia was implicative of a teenage virgin. Another study conducted on 36 pregnant teenagers reveals only two were found to have sexual intercourse. The revelation is itself a shred of evidence to debunk the fraud of virginity.

Reading women between legs do not tell anything about her sexual story. No magical seal disappears after sex, and half virgins can have sex without bleeding.

The speaker emphasized that just by removing these hymen myths will not make women's life easier as it appears. Sexual oppression of women comes from something much deeper than the understanding of hymen. It comes from culture and religion in the world that tries to control women's sexuality.

Also Read: Hindu Temple Kamakhya questions the Dominant Religious Legacies against Menstrual Blood