Virginity is one topic that a lot of us are fascinated by but then are also shy about. A lot of people do not understand what virginity is and some people say that virginity isn't a thing but is it truly a thing?
The history of when virginity became a thing cannot be figured out but researchers believe that it must have begun with agriculture where people began to lay claims to things as theirs and in line they also wanted to know they owned their wives being the first. Virginity has been a big deal since it became a thing finding its way into cultures, religions, laws, and so on.
Over time, people wanted to find a way to identify virgins as a way to prove and a lot of ways have been invented. In 17th-century England, the proportion of a female's neck was used as a way to identify one. There was a time as well that the clarity of pee was used to identify a virgin but in all, one method that has held on for a long time is using the hymen to identify a virgin.
The hymen is a thin membrane near the opening of the vagina. The hymen is a tissue leftover around the Vagina during fetal development. But then we have seen a lot of inconsistencies with this method because a lot of women aren't even born with a hymen, and those who have a hymen tend to lose them as they thin off before they even become sexually active and this could happen from events like riding bikes, exercise, using a tampon, or even without doing anything.
Parents go to the hospital to tell the doctor to perform a virginity test by checking the hymen and the stretchiness of the vagina, which for me is kind of absurd, Science has shown that those things don't tell if a lady has had sex. The vagina is elastic and would always go back to its normal position after a while even after natural birth.
image credited to wikimedia
Bleeding and pain during the first time of sex is often a myth. While it can happen, especially the bleeding, people without a hymen might not experience bleeding. For the pain, it could be a result of position, tension, speed during coitus, and dryness. By the way, sex shouldn't be painful but if it is, then yoy should see a doctor.
While we might want to believe in virginity, it is not a medical reality as we cannot tell if a woman has had intercourse for the first time by just checking the vagina. Depending on culture, religion, or social expectation, the value people give to virginity differs and it is just part of the sexual script.
Women who live in cultures that prize virginity as an award find it very difficult to have conversations about sex and sexual health, which is not a great thing especially when they need to learn a lot about sexual health. For instance, women who live in areas that prize virginity as an award might avoid procedures like a pap smear especially when they haven't had intercourse before. So, what’s your thought on virginity? Please share, let's discuss.
Reference
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/blog/3-facts-about-virginity
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/teens/sex/virginity
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/12/06/785493554/why-virginity-tests-are-making-news-in-the-u-s-and-afghanistan
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Virgin/_USgAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
https://healthcare.utah.edu/the-scope/health-library/all/2021/05/theres-pain-during-sex-am-i-normal
https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-sex/what-happens-when-you-lose-your-virginity
https://reproductive-health-journal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12978-017-0319-0?fd=5317710456904024%7C5456507360795513&lp=/artificial-hymen-kits
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/teens/sex/virginity/what-happens-first-time-you-have-sex
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2022/04/10941325/vaginal-tightness-myth