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  • [♪ INTRO]

  • There are a lot of things that we get wrong about our human anatomy,

  • but the hymen may very well be the most

  • misunderstood structure we've got.

  • People think it's this thick barrier at the entrance

  • of the vagina that's intact until it's broken by sex,

  • making it a sign of virginity.

  • But that... none of that's true.

  • The hymen is actually a thin, elastic,

  • membrane at the edge of the vagina's entrance,

  • and how it looks at any given point in a person's life

  • has very littleif anythingto do with sex.

  • The hymen exists because of how the vagina forms.

  • During fetal development, it starts as a tube

  • of solid tissue between the outside of the body

  • and the organ that will essentially become the uterus.

  • Over time, the inside of this tube just disintegrates

  • to make the reproductive tract.

  • But it usually doesn't completely hollow out

  • a thin membrane tends to remain

  • on the outer end of the tube.

  • And that's the hymen.

  • Within a few days of birth, this membrane

  • usually develops one or more openings in it,

  • the exact size and shape of which can differ.

  • Often, though, the hymen just ends up a rim

  • of tissue that only partially covers the vaginal opening.

  • Some people are even born without a hymen altogether,

  • which doesn't seem to be a problem because

  • as far as anyone can tell, the hymen has no biological purpose.

  • In fact, having a completely intact or imperforate hymen

  • can be a bit of a problem, because when puberty rolls around,

  • it doesn't let menstrual fluids out.

  • Luckily, it's rareimperforate hymens are

  • estimated to occur in only 1 in 1,000 to

  • 1 in 10,000 people with vaginas.

  • Not only do hymens generally have holes in them

  • from infancy, but there's also nothing else about them

  • that can be used to reliably indicate sexual activity.

  • For one thing, the tissue is fairly elastic in adults,

  • so penetration doesn't necessarily cause any lasting changes.

  • For example, in one study from 2004,

  • there was no difference in hymen size between people

  • who'd had intercourse and those who didn't.

  • In fact, more than half of participants who'd had

  • intercourse showed no visible changes to the tissue

  • that might indicate sexual activity,

  • like notches from healed tears.

  • Meanwhile, some of people who didn't have sex

  • did have those notcheswhich is probably because the hymens

  • can look different for all sorts of reasons unrelated to intercourse.

  • Vigorous exercise or even inserting a tampon

  • might stretch the tissue or cause small tears, for example.

  • And contrary to most hymen myths,

  • even if the tissue is torn or ruptured somehow,

  • there often isn't a significant amount of bleeding

  • because the hymen has relatively few blood vessels.

  • So there's basically nothing right about the idea

  • that people will bleed when they first have vaginal intercourse

  • because their hymens are being broken.

  • In fact, several studies have documented that bleeding

  • is not routinely observed after a person's first time.

  • So while it's an interesting artifact of development,

  • there are lots of reasons why the hymen

  • doesn't tell you anything about a person.

  • Thanks for asking!

  • And a special thank you to our patrons on Patreon,

  • who help us keep making educational videos like this one, that sponsors...

  • might not be as interested in.

  • If you liked learning the truth about this

  • misunderstood body part, I bet you'll love our episode

  • on enduring myths about human reproduction.

  • And if you learn something new, tell us in the comments!

  • [♪ OUTRO]

[♪ INTRO]

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