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Revision as of 13:50, 24 December 2003 by Karada (talk | contribs) (rm "iron clad")(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The hymen (or maidenhead) is a vaginal membrane present in human females, which completely or partially occludes the vaginal opening. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "membrane". Because sexual activity would usually puncture this membrane, its presence has been considered a guarantor of virginity in societies that place a high value on female chastity before marriage.
Nonetheless, the hymen is often lost during childhood in the course of normal physical activities such as bike riding, gymnastics, or sometimes falling down the wrong way; it is also possible for the hymen to break while using tampons. Some women can engage in sexual intercourse without the hymen breaking; some are born with no hymen at all, others with closed hymens that require a medical procedure to allow menstruation, while others have overly thick hymens that may require a gynecologist to break the hymen to prevent pain for the woman during sex. For these and many other reasons, the hymen should not be used as evidence for or against one's chastity or virginity.
Sometimes a woman has the hymen surgically restored in order to feign virginity.
Hymen is also an alternate name for the Greek goddess Hymenaios.