What is hymen
The hymen is part of the reproductive system of a woman. It is a tissue that either completely or partially obstructs the opening of the vagina. It is named after the Greek god Hymenaeus - the God of weddings and marriage. It is also referred as the maidenhead.

Function of hymen
The hymen is found as a perforated or septate membranous ring around the vaginal opening or may be found blocking the opening. The hymen basically has no anatomical function in the human body. However, there is an age-old tradition that the intact hymen is proof of virginity in the woman. However, modern science now knows that this is an erroneous fact

Hymen defloration
The reason the hymen was considered a guarantee of the real virginity of a woman was that it was thought that it was the first hymen defloration that would cause this membrane to tear and thus bleed. However, it is known that this is not true as the normal hymen does not actually completely cover the vaginal opening and thus has an opening in it. Moreover, the bleeding that is associated with hymen defloration may be from not only tearing of the hymen, but also because of injury to nearby tissues. Many teen's heymen defloration happened before first intercourse


The tearing of the hymen is medically called a transection that is basically caused by trauma associated with penetration. The insertion of a tampon and masturbation are not strong enough to cause trauma to the hymen. Transections are not caused by straddle injuries, horseback riding, gymnastics or bicycling as they do not penetrate the hymen. Today, you can find many surgeons who can restore a woman's hymen surgically for those women who consider the hymen being intact an indicator of a woman's hymen is not deflorated. Women who are to be married, and wish to have met the expectations of their culture usually resort to this operation.

broken hymen is not a sign of virginity
This proves that an intact hymen is not reliable in indicating virginity in a woman. However, as some cultures still believe this, and are ignorant to scientific knowledge, tend to test a woman's virginity with the presence or absence of bloodspots on the bed linen after the first night. This proves to be a serious problem to such women as the women who do not bleed can become victims of honor crimes for having harmed the honor of the family. In some castes, death is the punishment for an honor crime. Different women have different sized hymen. Some women have a closed hymen and there are some women with no hymen at all. With a closed hymen, the gynecologist has to perform a hymenotomy to permit menstruation and to prevent any pain during intercourse.


The baby girl fetus has no opening to the vagina in early fetal development; however, the tissue that covers the vagina divides before birth to form the hymen. Sometimes, the tissue divides completely and such girls don't have a hymen. The woman's hymen has a slang term; cherry. And the loss of the virginity of a woman is described using the phrase, 'popping her cherry'. The reason the cherry may have been used to describe the hymen is because it has a bright red color and juice that is similar to the color of blood that is similar to the woman bleeding during first time intercourse.