That Darn Hymen
Being an Athro major, it's pretty common to catch the tail end of an argument and end up researching the last statement said. Oftentimes, the subject matter seems to have nothing to do with Anthropology. Remember what I say here: Anthropology has a hand in EVERYTHING. That being said, I learned something interesting about the vagina.
I don't know why this question never came up before, but I caught the end of some show about virgins. I can't even remember what was said, but it had to do with the age-old virgin-tell: the hymen. Some dumbshit broke up with his girlfriend over the fact that her hymen was broken before their first time, and it got me thinking about how I view sex, and how little relevance I attach to virginity.
Maybe it's because I'm a guy. Sure, we'll go with that. But I was a virgin once, as was my first girlfriend. By the end of our relationship, we both were not. The thought of a girl having a little "purity barrier" never occurred to me up to that point, nor at anytime after. When I sat down and thought about its importance, I realized that by many cultural definitions, a girl could be de-virginized by a horse, a bike, a dildo, her gynecologist (just doing his job I mean), her own fingers, her own legs (gymnastics), or she could even have tissue flexible enough to "move aside."
In thinking about it today (god I must be bored), I was wondering what specific purpose it serves--I mean medically, not culturally. So I looked it up. Apparently, the hymen is the ninth wonder of the world, because NOBODY knows it medical/physiological purpose. Some think it may be to keep out dirt and outside bacteria from infecting it. But then, how do you explain how some women have an imperforate hymen, where the membrane is so thick and covers the entire opening that it won't let out menstrual blood? Kind of a biological double-standard, I'd say.
This also led me to thinking more about virginity, and how people try to define it. I've come to the conclusion that the concept of "virginity" is just as fluid as the concept of "evil"--it can variy drastically from one culture to the next. I guess that's kind of anticlimactic (no pun intended), but it's weird that I now attach even less importance to virginity than it previously had.
If anyone's got any ideas as to what the purpose of that little devil may be, feel free to postulate!
I don't know why this question never came up before, but I caught the end of some show about virgins. I can't even remember what was said, but it had to do with the age-old virgin-tell: the hymen. Some dumbshit broke up with his girlfriend over the fact that her hymen was broken before their first time, and it got me thinking about how I view sex, and how little relevance I attach to virginity.
Maybe it's because I'm a guy. Sure, we'll go with that. But I was a virgin once, as was my first girlfriend. By the end of our relationship, we both were not. The thought of a girl having a little "purity barrier" never occurred to me up to that point, nor at anytime after. When I sat down and thought about its importance, I realized that by many cultural definitions, a girl could be de-virginized by a horse, a bike, a dildo, her gynecologist (just doing his job I mean), her own fingers, her own legs (gymnastics), or she could even have tissue flexible enough to "move aside."
In thinking about it today (god I must be bored), I was wondering what specific purpose it serves--I mean medically, not culturally. So I looked it up. Apparently, the hymen is the ninth wonder of the world, because NOBODY knows it medical/physiological purpose. Some think it may be to keep out dirt and outside bacteria from infecting it. But then, how do you explain how some women have an imperforate hymen, where the membrane is so thick and covers the entire opening that it won't let out menstrual blood? Kind of a biological double-standard, I'd say.
This also led me to thinking more about virginity, and how people try to define it. I've come to the conclusion that the concept of "virginity" is just as fluid as the concept of "evil"--it can variy drastically from one culture to the next. I guess that's kind of anticlimactic (no pun intended), but it's weird that I now attach even less importance to virginity than it previously had.
If anyone's got any ideas as to what the purpose of that little devil may be, feel free to postulate!
posted by BoneDaddy at 5:43 PM
2 Comments:
Actually I think using the hymen to describe virginity is completely stupid. Most women's hymens break way before sex due to numerous things that aren't even sexually related. As far as a hymen goes that prevents menstrual blood from passing through must be abnormal. That could actually cause a lot of problems down there. My theory is that the hymen's purpose is to help prevent infection of sorts because it usually breaks right around the age of when a girl gets her cycle and experiences a form of daily "discharge" that helps balance out that whole environment. Or maybe it's one of those things when in the beginning of time really served a purpose and after evolution it has kinda lost it's main function.I don't know if defining sexual intercouse is the right way to think of virginity. So what is oral sex, masturbation (by yourself, with a partner, or toys) considered? There's kinda this big gray area.I don't really think it's sex that's sinful but how you view sex and your partners. I'm not saying sex is a huge act where the ground moves or anything. In fact the first time is usually very clumsy and uncertain.But I think it's when you start to view sex as only a selfish act to get yourself off, people as objects to achieve that goal, that you really miss out on it's whole purpose. There's a certain intimacy and communication in having sex with someone you trully love. If the only reason you're saving your virginity until marriage is because you're suppose to or it's sinful, it's very sad. Sex should never be looked at in that way and once it is, it kinda ruins the whole nature of why it was important for you to save it in the first place. There are actually a lot of virgins deathly afraid of their wedding night which I think is wrong. In some aspects it's a way for religion to control people.I do believe you should really honor and cherish the act and the people you're with (even if it takes a couple careless encounters for you to fully appreciate it)but I think it's gaining that mindset and responsibilty about sex (both physically and emotionally) that's more important than saving it is.
Thank you. It helps enforce the point coming from a girl. Actually, when the hymen is that thick, the doctors can do a little snip-snip to get things right, which would then mean being surgically de-virginized by a scalpel.
I don't think it's really a gray area, it's just different for many people. You can't really define sex properly due to its fluidity. Sodomy used to not be considered sex. Oral sex is being redefined by many teens today as something more casual, and non-intercourse.
I hate to say it, but Western culture can be extremely uptight, and I think that's why we can't find the right perameters to define "sex."
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