# Virgins! & Evolution.. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 22, 2001, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgins-evolution/83261 "2001-09-22T23:47:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fandango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b5ac83/32.png) [@fandango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fandango)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2001, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgins-evolution/83261/1 "2001-09-22T23:47:10Z")
Okay, this may have been asked before, but I searched the last two years worth of threads and couldn’t find an answer, so here’s my question: Why (evolutionarily speaking) are some virgins so hard to “de-flower”? Having witnessed the time and pain a few women have experienced (and yes, I was patient through the days and nights, but it was still painful for them), it seems that less evolved female animals might associate sex and pain, therefore not want to reproduce. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2001, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgins-evolution/83261/2 "2001-09-22T23:55:02Z")
Cecil addresses it a bit here: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_226.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_226.html) No satisfying answer, looks like. But, scanning the article, I see this: > [@](#): > > Bettyann Kevles observes in Female of the Species (1986). “But there is no evidence that mammal males seek inexperienced females, and no evidence that females with this peculiar anatomical feature remain monogamous… In whales, one can explain the resealing of the vagina as a means of keeping water out of the reproductive organs.” So I wonder if the hymen is vestigal of the “Aquatic Ape?” ---
**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:** [September 23, 2001, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgins-evolution/83261/3 "2001-09-23T00:04:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Revtim \* > \*\*So I wonder if the hymen is vestigal of the “Aquatic Ape?” \*\* Not likely, since, as Cecil says, “[The hymen] occurs in horses, whales, moles, mole-rats, hyenas, and perhaps other animals.” Pain associated with reproduction does not seem to be much of a deterant. The reproductive urge is quite a bit stronger than any desire to avoid pain. If I had to guess on a possible adaptive purpose for the hymen, I would say that it is used to keep infectious nasties out of the vaginas of young females, whose immune systems may not be fully developed. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2001, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgins-evolution/83261/4 "2001-09-23T00:22:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dr. Lao \* > If I had to guess on a possible adaptive purpose for the hymen, I would say that it is used to keep infectious nasties out of the vaginas of young females, whose immune systems may not be fully developed. What type of infectious agents are you positing, **Dr. Lao**? It’s surely no shield against coliform bacteria and candida albicans, which migrate up and enter from the anus quite easily, hymen or no hymen. Ditto klebsiella and proteus, along with staph (both epi and aureus). And it certainly wouldn’t stop the introduction of gonorrhea, chlamydia, trichomonas, or any spirochete. I misdoubt the hymen has any anti-infective role. QtM ---
**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:** [September 23, 2001, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgins-evolution/83261/5 "2001-09-23T00:26:40Z")
Well, maybe not the germs themselves, but perhaps the marcoscopic particles which they can be found on in large numbers: dirt, feces, etc. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2001, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgins-evolution/83261/6 "2001-09-23T01:07:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Why (evolutionarily speaking) are some virgins so hard to “de-flower”? Well, before we consider whether or not it represents an adaptation to a niche, we should ask if it is even hereditary. Although I suppose it’s safe to say that if your mom was incapable of being deflowered, you probably won’t be either…