It varies considerably in shape and elasticity, but is generally either
stretched or torn during the first attempt at sexual intercourse. A virgin
is someone who has never had sex. Contrary to popular belief, an intact
hymen is not a conclusive proof of a woman's virginity.
1. NOT EVERY VIRGIN HAS A HYMEN.
Some babies are born without a hymen. They were not deflowered from the
womb, were they? Of course not.
2. MOST HYMENS HAVE ONE OR MORE OPENINGS, TO ALLOW THE OUTFLOW OF MENSTRUAL
BLOOD AND VAGINAL DISCHARGE.
A hymen without any opening (i.e. an imperforate hymen) needs to be
perforated to allow menstrual flow. The various types of hymen are depicted
in the picture attached to this article.
3. NOT EVERYONE WITH AN INTACT HYMEN IS A VIRGIN.
As stated earlier, a hymen is either stretched or torn during the first
attempt at sexual intercourse. A woman in her teens or 20s usually has an
inelastic hymen that breaks easily and bleeds at penetration. Even then,
new tissue grows to fill up the hymen within 6-12 months of abstinence from
sex or any other penetrative activity, making her pass for a virgin again.
(a) If you are a woman who has just been used and dumped, abstain from sex
for the next 6 months, keeping any new suitor as a platonic friend. Then
squat, part your inner labia and check your vaginal opening with a mirror.
There is no harm in experimenting with abstinence. (Virgins should not
experiment with sex or married women starve their husbands sexually in
order to carry out this experiment). (b) If you are a man, staying away
from your wife for 6-12 months and then checking her vaginal opening can
confirm her fidelity or otherwise ONLY IF her hymen is the inelastic type.
An elastic hymen will always bounce back into place after sex and fool you.
The hymen of a woman in her 30s usually becomes very elastic, due to
exposure to higher amounts of estrogen. It (whether "follow-come" or
regrown) usually stretches (sometimes all the way to the cervix) without
breaking during sex and bounces back to the vaginal entrance afterwards.
It can allow deep penetration and let semen flow into the womb for
pregnancy to occur. Unless she or her lover learns to stretch her hymen
with her fingers (by pushing in the finger and letting it stay there for a
few minutes before slowly removing it and going to another spot on the
hymen) regularly before sex, penile penetration will be more difficult for
her each time she has sex than for a younger lady (whose hymen will quickly
break and stay that way unless she goes on a long sex fast) because the
typical guy will thrust in fast. An elastic hymen (when stretched
beforehand ) increases a man's sexual pleasure by touching his sensitive
glans throughout the sex act.
...............................................
So there you are. Only a woman knows for sure whether she is still a virgin
or not. Don't ask her unless you are ready to believe whatever she chooses
to tell you. Her current moral values and her health status (HIV status,
genotype, blood group,etc) matter more than her virginity (which can be
lost through rape). If you are about to marry a woman you haven't slept
with, take her for a pregnancy test to prevent paternity fraud.
