There are plenty of pearls of wisdom over at “www.revirgination.net,” which specializes in the increasingly popular procedure of “hymenoplasty.” Another such pearl: “You wouldn’t want your boyfriend/future husband feel ashamed because your hymen no longer existed.” No, certainly not!
There’s a BBC piece today that profiles a doctor who performs the procedure – also known as “hymenorrhaphy” – in Paris, largely for young women from the city’s large, conservative Muslim community (although the emphasis on virginity is by no means unique to that culture and, in fact, has no basis in Shariah law.)
Dr Abecassis performs a “hymenoplasty” as it’s called, at least two to three times a week. Re-connecting the tissue of the hymen takes about 30 minutes under local anaesthetic. He says the average age of the patient is about 25, and they come from all social backgrounds. Although the surgery is performed in clinics around the world, Dr Abecassis is one of the few Arab surgeons who talks openly about it. Some of the women come to him because they need virginity certificates in order to marry. “She can be in danger because sometimes it’s a matter of traditions and family,” says Dr Abecassis. “I believe we as doctors have no right to decide for her or judge her.”
It’s a strange mix of helping women, and implicitly reinforcing the taboos that drive them to it. But for these young women, the option surely feels like a godsend. Although the surgery and its variants is minimally invasive and low-risk, it’s not cheap – which may explain the market for other innovations. Says the BBC, “One website sells artificial hymens for just £20 (23 euros). The Chinese hymen is made of elastic and filled with fake blood. Once inserted in the vagina, the woman can simulate virginity, the company claims.” That a young woman would be moved to try this shows, I think, how much anxiety must be attached to marrying without one’s virginity in tact. Or, for that matter, hymen – which, as we know, can be torn any number of ways.