The hymen, a collection of cells that are found on the outside of the vaginal opening, has been long equated with the social construct of virginity. Plenty of mammals including elephants, cats, and camels all have hymens, and if the purpose of a hymen was to indicate the status of someone's sexual activity these animals wouldn't have one.
The hymen has made headlines this week, for all the wrong reasons. While speaking on the "Life Hacks" episode of Ladies Like Us, podcast, rapper TI told the world that he keeps an eye on his daughter Deyjah's sexual activity. "Deyjah’s 18, just graduated high school now and she’s attending her first year of college, figuring it out for herself. And yes, not only have we had the conversation, we have yearly trips to the gynecologist to check her hymen.”
The hymen can be broken in a number of ways, from riding a bicycle, to horse back riding or gymnastics. Some humans are even born without a hymen. But the hymen does serve an actual purpose for the first few years of a girls life. The cells are more rigid when a baby is born and are there to provide a barrier between the vagina and feces and urine before the age of 3. There is a lack of estrogen in young girls, which makes their vaginas more susceptible to irritants and infections.
As girls get older, the hymen becomes more flexible and changes shape. The flexibility also means that studies show that over 50% of sexually active teens don't have disrupted hymens, according to Dr. Jen Gunter, MD a Canadian gynecologist. While the old wives tale of "blood on the sheets" after a wedding equating with the bride having been a virgin on her wedding night is wide spread, it is also untrue. Statistically speaking two out of three women experience no bleeding on losing their virginity. The hymen is very thin and doesn't have a large blood supply, so while it's tearing may be uncomfortable, it isn't particularly bloody. Sexual bleeding is more often a sign of sexual trauma, when the vagina is unlubricated and tears when penetrated.
Dr. Jen Gunter gives an incredible and informative history of the hymen in this video.
So, while TI may think that hymen checking and family gynecology appointments are relevant, experts say that they are neither reliable as an indicator of sexual abstinence.
Written by Devon Clare Banfield
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