I recently discovered that the myth of the hymen is still alive and doing well.
So I think it's time for some iconoclasm.
The myth is as follows:
Women are born with a hymen - a mucous membrane - covering the entrance to the vagina.
During the first vaginal intercourse this hymen will 'burst' - so to speak - resulting in bleeding. And it's followed by pain.
The myth arose sometime in the 16-17 century (along with the first 'actual' anatomical studies) and is not correct.
It's as follows:
The hymen is a small mucous membrane at the entrance to the vagina, that doesn't cover anything.
1 out of 1000 girls are born with a hymen completely covering the entrance to the vagina,
and that's considered a deformity, since it prevents menstruation blood from passing. A small operation is necessary.
Sometimes during sex the hymen can receive scratches causing bleeding, but it's not always the case.
A Dutch and Swedish survey show that somewhere between 33 % (in Sweden) and about 50 % (in the Netherlands) of women
experienced no bleeding during or after their first vaginal intercourse.
In other words, it's fairly common but far from omnipresent.
Gynaecological findings show that the hymen can be intact among women who've had sex several times, and even among women who've given birth.
And the other way around you can also find scratches in the hymen among girls who've never had (vaginal) sex.
Nothing indicates that the hymen can be damaged by athletics/sports, the use of tampons or any other activity affecting the lower abdomen (another part of the myth).
The question of pain is not well examined (needless to say there's not much research on this),
but there's no reason to believe damage to the hymen itself causes pain worth mentioning. Pain during first intercourse
is perhaps best explained by nervousness - preventing proper excitement and 'vaginal juices' from flowing (but that's pure speculation).
The myth causes not only unnecessary worries among young women, but in some male chauvinist cultures,
it can be devastating to the life of a woman who's expected to 'show blood' as proof of her virginity (when such proof doesn't exist).
Just as masturbation - involving vaginal penetration - is perhaps avoided out of fear of 'bursting' the hymen.
Even worse is perhaps the growing tendency among doctors in medical clinics who offer a 'hymen reconstruction' operation.
In such a procedure part of the mucous membrane of the vagina is sewn together (the hymen itself is too small to be of interest).
An absolutely absurd procedure where nothing is reconstructed, but in fact created to ensure bleeding during sex.
Doctors who are meant to spread knowledge on health & disease in our enlightened societies are keeping a myth alive.
(Although I can fully understand the desperate women caught in a culture of stupidity - and doctors who wish to help them).
So is this common knowledge and complete waste of forum space? Or just "too long - didn't read"?
So I think it's time for some iconoclasm.
The myth is as follows:
Women are born with a hymen - a mucous membrane - covering the entrance to the vagina.
During the first vaginal intercourse this hymen will 'burst' - so to speak - resulting in bleeding. And it's followed by pain.
The myth arose sometime in the 16-17 century (along with the first 'actual' anatomical studies) and is not correct.
It's as follows:
The hymen is a small mucous membrane at the entrance to the vagina, that doesn't cover anything.
1 out of 1000 girls are born with a hymen completely covering the entrance to the vagina,
and that's considered a deformity, since it prevents menstruation blood from passing. A small operation is necessary.
Sometimes during sex the hymen can receive scratches causing bleeding, but it's not always the case.
A Dutch and Swedish survey show that somewhere between 33 % (in Sweden) and about 50 % (in the Netherlands) of women
experienced no bleeding during or after their first vaginal intercourse.
In other words, it's fairly common but far from omnipresent.
Gynaecological findings show that the hymen can be intact among women who've had sex several times, and even among women who've given birth.
And the other way around you can also find scratches in the hymen among girls who've never had (vaginal) sex.
Nothing indicates that the hymen can be damaged by athletics/sports, the use of tampons or any other activity affecting the lower abdomen (another part of the myth).
The question of pain is not well examined (needless to say there's not much research on this),
but there's no reason to believe damage to the hymen itself causes pain worth mentioning. Pain during first intercourse
is perhaps best explained by nervousness - preventing proper excitement and 'vaginal juices' from flowing (but that's pure speculation).
The myth causes not only unnecessary worries among young women, but in some male chauvinist cultures,
it can be devastating to the life of a woman who's expected to 'show blood' as proof of her virginity (when such proof doesn't exist).
Just as masturbation - involving vaginal penetration - is perhaps avoided out of fear of 'bursting' the hymen.
Even worse is perhaps the growing tendency among doctors in medical clinics who offer a 'hymen reconstruction' operation.
In such a procedure part of the mucous membrane of the vagina is sewn together (the hymen itself is too small to be of interest).
An absolutely absurd procedure where nothing is reconstructed, but in fact created to ensure bleeding during sex.
Doctors who are meant to spread knowledge on health & disease in our enlightened societies are keeping a myth alive.
(Although I can fully understand the desperate women caught in a culture of stupidity - and doctors who wish to help them).
So is this common knowledge and complete waste of forum space? Or just "too long - didn't read"?
