# Restored Virginity? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 17, 2000, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774 "2000-08-17T20:04:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/1 "2000-08-17T20:04:41Z")
Yep, apparently for a few hundred bucks a woman can have her hymen replaced. Called an hymenorraphy, it seems this procedure is more popular than you might think. > [@](#): > > A typical hymen repair surgery involves suturing the remnants of the ruptured hymen together along with a gelatin capsule containing a blood-like substance. A small section of vaginal wall is dissected for the reconstruction when the hymenal remnants are insufficient, but the procedure is considered relatively simple. The husband will be convinced of the bride’s virginity when the capsule bursts during intercourse. [Restoring Virginity](http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~issues/fall98/hymenrep.html) Personally, I think it is wrong on several levels. Wrong for the woman to keep her past from her future husband, wrong that she would feel the need to. Virginity is more than physical, it is spiritual. Of course my view is purely my own, in no way am I saying this operation should not be available to women, I just don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/2 "2000-08-17T20:16:19Z")
Yeah, this sounds to me like a type of cosmetic surgery specifically devised for the purpose of deception. I seriously hope there isn’t a big market for this kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/3 "2000-08-17T20:28:07Z")
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of cultural pressure which tells a woman that if she isn’t a virgin (or, at least, doesn’t have a hymen) on her wedding night, she’s “damaged goods.” ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/4 "2000-08-17T20:41:55Z")
Looking at the website, it appears to me that this is not intended for Western society and culture. It would be a mistake, then, to look at it from that perspective. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/5 "2000-08-17T21:10:40Z")
Actually, this is performed in the US. Particularly in larger cities such as New York, where there are large populations of Middle-Eastern and Latina women. I found several sites, including one in Los Angeles featuring “Designer Vaginoplasty” that offered this operation. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/6 "2000-08-17T21:27:57Z")
Personally, I wish I could have my virginity back. Surgery might be able to create a reasonable facsimile of an unruptured hymen, but it cannot alter the fact that you have had sex. I personally can’t see doing it. When Mr. Right finally shows up in my life, he gets me as is, no deceptions. Of course, if you’re from a culture that prizes virginity that highly, likely to wind up in an arranged marriage with someone you might not feel you can trust enough to let them know that you’ve, uh, been in other relationships, and likely to find yourself beaten up and out on the streets if you don’t bleed on the sheets on your wedding night, I can’t condemn you for having the operation. ---
**Author:** ![Tzel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzel)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/7 "2000-08-17T23:33:04Z")
Rather than faulting the woman for wanting this kind of operation, I would fault the culture that makes this kind of procedure look attractive. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/8 "2000-08-18T04:50:16Z")
To really restore virginity is to restore the mind to that state of wonder of the ‘first time’. What one should do is to resolve herself to never to make the mistakes made, or, that is wasn’t her fault the encounter happened. Vow to wait for sometone special to befriend before she engages again. Meanwhile, take a a long period time off from having sex, and concentrate on being a whole person in other aspects. Then one can say that she is a ‘born again’ virgin (you may substitute the phrase if you find it not to your liking). This technique is used for victims of rape. This artificial hymen, bah!! Though I’m a virgin, I have second-hand knowledge to probably tell that the woman was experienced, extra skin to penetrate or not. It doesn’t really matter to me, as long as she doesn’t use the megaphone to shout ‘Stroke’! However, jokes aside, it is unfortunate that even today such deception is necessary in some cultures. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/9 "2000-08-18T05:08:56Z")
Um, it may interest you to know that there are ways to destroy the hymen other than to have sex. While I think it’s silly that a woman couldn’t get married because she already had sex, I think it’s downright unfair that she couldn’t get married because she fell off a horse, for example. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/10 "2000-08-18T16:03:34Z")
capacitor wrote: > [@](#): > > What one should do is to resolve herself to never to make the mistakes made, or, that is wasn’t her fault the encounter happened. […] This technique is used for victims of rape. For rape victims, that makes sense – but for women who have had voluntary sex?! Just what we need. Another “sex makes you dirty” society. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/11 "2000-08-18T16:52:51Z")
Yeah, **tracer** , but I say we give him a pass for the sake of the crew joke. 🙂 (typing carefully on account of the oar blisters) ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/12 "2000-08-18T16:54:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > > Personally, I think it is wrong on several levels. Wrong for the woman to keep her past from her future husband, wrong that she would feel the need to. Virginity is more than physical, it is spiritual. Of course my view is purely my own, in no way am I saying this operation should not be available to women, I just don’t get it. > > \*\* Well there are all sorts of odd people in this world. There are several men’s groups that work to restore their foreskin, don’t ask. Marc It is ok if you no longer have your cherry. Just so long as you have the box it came in. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/13 "2000-08-18T17:26:06Z")
One of the problems here is that the presence of a hyman is not a reliable test for virginity. Some women are born without a hyman, some women lose their hyman in ways other than their first sexual intercorse, and in still other cases women can retain their hyman even after they have sex for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![GLWasteful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f05b48/32.png) [@GLWasteful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GLWasteful)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/14 "2000-08-18T20:58:17Z")
Yeah, **Dr. Lao** , but in the last instance, I can’t imagine that the retention of the hymen would get anyone worked up. At least, not in the cultures that prize virginity on the wedding night. Waste Flick Lives! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/15 "2000-08-18T23:09:21Z")
**GLWasteful** I think they would be more concerened with the last instance than the first two. If only the first two examples were true, but not the last one you could accurately state that all women with intact hymans are virgins even if not all virgins have intact hymans. The last instance, and the surgury mentioned in the OP, cast doubt upon the viriginity of women with intact hymans. So now, (1) the existace of an intact hyman cannot be considered evidence of virginity and (2) the lack of an intact hyman cannot be considered evidence of lost virginity. I think, among cultures that prize virginity, (1) would be more troubling than (2). If within those cultures that prize virginity on the wedding night (for the woman, of course) the hymenorraphy surgury becomes popular, I’m sure tests of the blood on the wedding sheets won’t be far behind. Even if that happens, it doesn’t change the reality. Women who break their hyman on their wedding night are not necessarily virgins. That fact alone should throw a wrench into the certinity of virginity on the wedding night within those cultures. I guess what I’m trying to say, even if for some reason virginity on the wedding night is important the only way to know the truth is to have a partner you trust and believe him/her. All these tests of virginity don’t amount to anything and I think the practice is silly. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2000, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/16 "2000-08-19T01:14:20Z")
GLWasteful wrote: > [@](#): > > I can’t imagine that the retention of the hymen would get anyone worked up. Except Orthodox believers in Deuteronomy chapter 22: > [@](#): > > 13 If a man takes a wife and, after lying with her, dislikes her > 14 and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, “I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity,” > 15 then the girl’s father and mother shall bring proof that she was a virgin to the town elders at the gate. > 16 The girl’s father will say to the elders, “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her. > 17 Now he has slandered her and said, `I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.’ But here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.” Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town, > 18 and the elders shall take the man and punish him. > 19 They shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver [2] and give them to the girl’s father, because this man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall continue to be his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives. > 20 If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the girl’s virginity can be found, > 21 she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from among you. This is from the NIV translation. It’s not very obvious in this translation, but the “cloth” in verse 17 means the bedsheets that were supposed to get stained with the blood from the de-virginized woman’s hymen on her wedding night. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2000, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/17 "2000-08-19T01:44:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by psycat90 \* > **Personally, I think it is wrong on several levels. Wrong for the woman to keep her past from her future husband, wrong that she would feel the need to. Virginity is more than physical, it is spiritual. Of course my view is purely my own, in no way am I saying this operation should not be available to women, I just don’t get it.** Kudos to all the people in this thread who were paying attention ( **IzzyR, Tzel, PL** ), and shame on those who evidently weren’t (including the OP–didn’t you read your entire article? Maybe if you’d read it, you’d get it.) Sometimes it pays to go read the link, folks. Here’s a definitive quote: > [@](#): > > Unfortunately, the consequences of not bleeding, or being a “non-virgin” bride, can be severe. In many Mediterranean and African cultures, the husband’s family may take revenge through violent punishments and banishment of the bride because the “non-virgin” bride “shamed” them. Among the Yungar people of Australia, girls without the hymen before marriage were starved, tortured, or even killed. In Arab countries, the “non-virgin” brides may be killed by her brothers, uncles, or even fathers. The perpetrators often escape prosecution due to the strong customs that justify such murders. I’m sure all those Third World re-made virgins would be real interested to hear that some people in this thread don’t understand why they’d want to have this procedure done. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2000, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/18 "2000-08-19T02:42:43Z")
Actually, as far as reasons go for women in other countries, I can’t say I blame them. But, like I said, this is occuring here in the US, that is the part I don’t understand. I thought woman had come so far here, to feel the need to deceive in such a way kind of astounded me. ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2000, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/19 "2000-08-20T03:07:15Z")
I have a friend named John Hymen. I felt the need to share that. When I was drunk last night, I asked him if he was broken. –Tim ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2000, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774/20 "2000-08-20T03:26:16Z")
> [@](#): > > 836.04 Defamation.–Whoever speaks of and concerning any woman, married or unmarried, falsely and maliciously imputing to her a want of chastity, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. Don’t call someone a non-virgin in Florida unless you have proof. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restored-virginity/29774.md?page=2)