The ruptured hymen myth is a lie and has no scientific basis

The myth of the ruptured hymen is an idea present in society. According to this imagery, in the first vaginal intercourse, the hymen breaks, causing bleeding and loss of virginity. According to this myth, it would also be possible to observe when a woman is a virgin or not.

However, virginity is a hoax, as researchers Ellen Støkken Dahl and Nina Dølvik Brochmann, Norwegian authors of the book “Long Live the Vagina – Everything You Always Wanted to Know,” explain. Dahl defends, in an interview with BBC News Worldthat this myth is practical for a society that wants to control women’s sexuality.

Instead of breaking, the researcher explains that the hymen works more like an elastic band, like those used to hold hair, or like an elastic gum, which has a hole in the middle. This imagery is still often accompanied by the idea that the hymen can be broken in situations such as inserting a tampon or riding a bicycle, ideas that have no scientific basis.

In this way, it does not suffer damage when having sexual intercourse with vaginal penetration and its appearance varies according to each woman’s body, being as diverse as the clitoris and vulva.

In addition to the myth of the hymen, another presence in the imagination about the loss of a woman’s virginity is bleeding in the first sexual intercourse with penetration. Most women do not bleed the first time and when this happens it is not due to the so-called rupture of the hymen, but to an injury to the vaginal mucosa, which can be caused by a lack of knowledge of how the body works.

What are the implications of propagating this myth?

Propagating this myth can bring great discomfort to women who don’t bleed on their first intercourse, making them think there’s something wrong with them. And the implications of perpetuating this idea go much further.

Even with the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) considering as a violation of human rights virginity tests, which are vaginal exams to verify that the hymen is intact, they are still practiced in more than 20 countries.

The listing includes countries that are considered developed, such as the United States of America and the United Kingdom. In addition, surgical procedures are offered to “repair the hymen”, even though it is false that it breaks.

The myth also has an impact on forensic medicine, as there are still practices in which a woman who reports having been abused is examined to see if her hymen is still intact, and in these cases what she says is doubted.

In all these ways, the existence of the broken hymen myth is detrimental to women’s sexual freedom. Knowing more about this topic is important, so check out facts about the hymen and information about the vagina.