When I was 18 I went out with a guy named Ben. It was our first year out of high school, we were overseas together and we were in love. One warm night we were so in love we decided to bequeath our virginities to one another.Afterwards Ben said he was surprised that I hadn't bled. I mumbled something about horse riding, tampons and masturbation, then I fell asleep.
Fast forward 18 years to a few days ago when I web surfed my way to a pdf booklet put out by RFSU (the Swedish organisation for sexual enlightenment), which starts like this:
Known by the established term "hymen," the vaginal corona is the subject of many myths and misunderstandings. The most important of these is the notion that a woman’s vaginal opening is covered by a membrane that ruptures on penetration. This is incorrect. There is no such membrane. RFSU wishes to dispel the myths and promote knowledge of the true facts. In this booklet, we aim to give you a more accurate idea of what you will find just inside the vaginal opening of every woman.
Holy popped cherries, batgirl! My entire life I thought I had a hymen, and that somewhere along the line between being born and meeting Ben, this precious proof of purity was disturbed.
Between clitoris and labia in my Cambridge Illustrated Thesaurus of Biology is the listing for hymen:
Thin membrane partially closing the vagina in a virgin woman. It is ruptured when coitus first occurs.
Ha! One more myth of the patriarchy debunked. I wonder if there's a word for the membrane that seals a closed mind.
9 comments:
what is it about today and vaginas?! today just happens to be the day my aunt flo returned after being on holiday for the 2.5 years since my son was born. *sigh*
enlightening post.
I also put the blame on horse-riding, tampons etc, when there was no blood during my first act of sexual intercourse.
Probably the bleeding that sometimes is reputed to occur is due to a rough lover or a lack of foreplay and/or lubrication.
Thanks for enlightenment at last!
i kind of love this: I mumbled something about horse riding, tampons and masturbation, then I fell asleep. and i kind of love this booklet you linked to. thx.
and ps, it was so ace to see you and your sister and nieces on sunday!
I haven't visited in so long and I arrive at this absolute peraler of a post. WHO KNEW!!!! I have to tell my friend she does puberty talks with kids.
I meant pearler of a post.
I was thinking of a sugru corona, in blue.
tc
aah, good-o, another good fact to know. Mind you I also want to read the posts about vaginal cortinas and vaginal corollas one day.
x
hi meg,
reading your entry on hymens brought a very large smile to my face. I remember that warm night well (nice to see you left out most of the details) though it does seem like an eternity ago. And to think after all this time you're still teaching me about vaginas :) i think of you often, it was a lovely surprise to have you pop into our world today. funnily enough i stumbled upon your blog from my son googling himself and finding a photo of him with your nieces that you posted.
you're still a big spunk.
love ben
Well fancy that, I learn something new every day. Thanks even though now I do have the words My Corona in my head to the tune of the Knacks song My Sharona, :)
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