Hymen and virginity Many people are under the impression that the hymen is located within the

vagina . It is not. It's a mucous membrane that is part of the vulva, the external genita l organs. It's located outside the vagina. The hymen is a layer of tissue, just li ke the tissue around the opening of your vagina that partially conceals the vagi nal orifice. You may or may not have one, most females do. The hymen is not an i ndicator of virginity; a girl is a virgin until she has been penetrated by a pen is. The hymen is named after the Greek God Hymenaeus - the God of marriage and weddi ngs, FYI. During the early stages of fetal development there is no opening into the vagina at all. The thin layer of tissue that conceals the vagina at this time usually divides incompletely prior to birth, forming the hymen. The size and shape of th is opening (or openings) varies greatly from person to person. Sometimes this formation of an opening does not occur, resulting in an imperfora ted hymen (it lacks the more common opening). Some females have no hymen at birt h at all, since the tissue divided completely while they were still in the womb. Many girls and teens tear or otherwise dilate their hymen while participating in sports like bicycling, horseback riding, gymnastics or inserting tampons, or wh ile masturbating. A girl may not even know this has occurred, since there may be little or no blood or pain involved when this happens. The tissues of the vulva are generally very thin and delicate prior to puberty. The presence or absence of a hymen in no way indicates whether or not a female is a virgin. * You are a virgin until you have sexual intercourse.* Some hymens are elastic enough to permit a penis to enter without tearing, or th ey tear only partially, and there is NO bleeding at all. When adequately lubrica ted the vagina is fairly flexible and will stretch without discomfort for most women. Sometimes, a woman has sex for years with no real tearing at all, only stretching of the hymen and then at another time the same woman might tear from rough sex or sex with a different partner with a larger penis. Remnants of th e hymen are usually still present until a woman delivers a baby vaginally. Sure, see what your vagina looks like with a mirror, its your body, you should not be afraid of it . Some young women seem to obsess over what is normal. So, put away the mirror after you know what is normal for you. You might see that y our labia change as you get older, they might get a bit darker in color or longe r, or not change at all. This is not abnormal, unless you are an adult. It is im portant to know what your body looks like, so you can tell when there is a chang e or something to see your health care provider about, but don't obsess over what it is supposed to look like. All of our faces look different and none of our v aginas look exactly the same either. That's all I have to say about hymens and vag inas for now. I have some diagrams of different hymens, but some sponsor think they are not ap propriate for me to show, even for educational purposes. However, there is a pag e that does have a photograph of the anatomy of the female vagina. It's not that h ard to find if you do a search. AND, speaking of sponsors, if you would kindly c lick on the banner ads on the top of the page or on the left here that helps kee p this site on the web. That's who helps me continue to bring you information, kin d of like commercials on TV, they are annoying, but they are a reality of our wo rld. Thank you in advance!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------I am asked about hymens almost as much as about masturbation and penis size. I t hought it was time to try to address this subject and hopefully end the confusio n. I have written about the hymen in the Sexuality FAQ pages also. I want this site to provide accurate information for teens and young adults abou t their bodies. I often do so at the risk of losing potential sponsors - they of ten don't appreciate honest information, but the hymen shouldnt be such a mystery .