The hymen debunked

Virginity is not protected by a cling film-like barrier.

Hymens can’t be broken. There is no barrier sealing off the vagina; if a girl’s hymen is completely intact, that’s a medical concern and she’d need a hymenotomy to allow menstrual fluids and other discharge to leave the body. Fact. The hymen is not some mystical evidence of virginity—it’s a ring of stretchy tissue leftover from the formation of the vaginal canal during foetal development. In the womb, the hymen might be a protective barrier from bacteria, but other than that, we have no idea why we have one.

Oestrogen naturally causes the tissue to stretch and wear away as you age and develop, and its shape and size is as unique to you as anything else. By the time many women have sex, the hymen—or vaginal corona as it’s now named—may have stretched naturally and worn away from any number of daily activities, including tampon use. It is not a physical symbol of virginity. You can’t pop your cherry or be deflowered: it’s a myth and an overrated and harmful one at that.

Bleeding during your first time is a culturally accepted and expected phenomenon; new husbands were expected to produce bloody sheets to prove they’d both married a virgin and consummated that marriage. 🤦

If it’s nonsense, why do some women experience the pain and blood of what they presume to be their hymen breaking? While most of the tissue will have worn away, it’s possible there’ll be a little left, and combined with the lack of preparedness and finesse that comes with a first time, this tissue could be aggravated. All bodily tissue has a blood supply. As for the pain, many women expect sex to hurt, which may become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Natural anxiety around sex can interfere with lubrication and poor sex-ed usually means neither party is aware enough of foreplay: poorly lubricated sex equals painful sex. Rushed, poorly lubricated, piston-like sex (as learned from porn) might abrade the sensitive vaginal tissue enough to cause bleeding.

Don’t forget: for women in cultures where proof of bleeding is required, many brides take no chances. They find other ways to produce enough blood to satisfy tradition and perpetuate the hymen myth. ■