internal maidenheads

[macropis]

I've noticed a curious thing reading stories here. Many authors have no idea what or where the hymen (aka "maidenhead") is on the female body, though many love to write about them being breached.

They are most commonly described as being about halfway up inside the vagina. After thinking about it, I remember that more that a few published romance novels contain the same mistake. I'm really curious as to how this inaccuracy has gotten established as common knowledge. Do people really learn about human anatomy solely from works of fiction?

It seems to be a mistake made by male authors as well as female authors.

 

[sr71plt]

I'm pretty sure that most writers/readers here aren't here for the literal value of the stories. Those who are are probably not having as much fun here as those who aren't.

 

[sunandshadow]

While they are more like 1/3 of the way into the vagina, is it really that big of a difference?

 

[Stella_Omega]

Pilot is right, nobody comes here for factual information!

That said, the hymen is a membrane at the entrance to the vagina. It is not halfway in, nor is it 1/3rd of the way into the vagina. It's right there, right behind the pisshole. If you are feeling rough folds a third of the way in, you are feeling the vaginal walls, which will accordion into enough length to accommodate a nice long shlong or a loving fist.

In most women the hymen is very thin, but some women have a thicker membrane. There is plenty of variation in the shape of the membrane, but I notice that google images repeats the same images over and over again, and neglects the most common which is a little crescent shape that's hardly there at all, and I found one imag which showed a MISSING HYMEN! Likwise bogus operations to restore a hymen. This does not surprise me.

Some women have more membrane, which might get torn during those first fucks or fingerings. Many little girls have an imperforate membrane, which completely closes the vaginal opening. This usually opens up in plenty of time for puberty.

Most women never break their hymen, it simply goes away -- painlessly and unnoticed. But they just might lie about that because Virginity!

 

[sunandshadow]

Whut. It's not anywhere near the urethra, there's more than an inch between the urethra and the vaginal opening, and that I can just reach down and feel. And I remember really clearly from having my hymen broken that the guy got the tip of his dick into me before he ran into the hymen, and had to back up and use more force to actually break it, and yes, there was a little bit of blood. I've even still got a little bit of scar tissue from the hymen, it's more than an inch inside my vagina.

*after looking at hymens on google* Huh, I really don't remember it being placed like that, but it's hard to argue with ample photographic evidence. *scratches head*

 

[macropis]

Whut. It's not anywhere near the urethra, there's more than an inch between the urethra and the vaginal opening, and that I can just reach down and feel. And I remember really clearly from having my hymen broken that the guy got the tip of his dick into me before he ran into the hymen, and had to back up and use more force to actually break it, and yes, there was a little bit of blood. I've even still got a little bit of scar tissue from the hymen, it's more than an inch inside my vagina.


*after looking at hymens on google* Huh, I really don't remember it being placed like that, but it's hard to argue with ample photographic evidence. *scratches head*

Interesting. I wonder if everyone just gets an image in their head from "common knowledge", and then that influences their perceptions of their own body/experiences. Because this is a widespread myth. Since the hymen is often just a flap of skin rimming the vaginal entrance, it is possible that it gets pushed up into the vagina during first intercourse and tears when the cock is partway in, thus giving the illusion that it is a barrier inside the vagina.

But the "scar" you feel an inch in isn't the hymen scar. Probably just the texture of the vaginal walls.

 

[macropis]

I'm pretty sure that most writers/readers here aren't here for the literal value of the stories. Those who are are probably not having as much fun here as those who aren't.

I know people aren't here for factual info, but I do think that there is at least a small share of readership that expects the basic anatomy of the naughty bits to be correct, just like they want stories to be well written with proper grammar and spelling.

 

[txblush]

I know people aren't here for factual info, but I do think that there is at least a small share of readership that expects the basic anatomy of the naughty bits to be correct, just like they want stories to be well written with proper grammar and spelling.

Count me among the minority of readers who would click out of a story that isn't anatomy accurate.

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

I'll admit my ignorance to my own body and how little I knew about my own genitalia and yeah, I'm one of those women that have written the whole "barrier" line. It's sad that it took many, many, many years before I learned how I "worked" as a woman, but if you knew my upbringing and the kind of man I am married to you might understand how I could become and remain ignorant until I was in my early thirties, that's beside the point though.

Because I mis-wrote the reality of it, I was labeled a man and that I had to be one because I didn't know where the damn hymen was. I also was once told women didn't like their nipples bitten or the clit nibbled - that I knew was bogus bullshit. I enjoy both very much - thank you!

Stella I appreciate what you wrote, it's probably the best answer ever given. Thank you very much.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Red, don't feel bad. I am in my fifties, and I've learned more about my genitals in the past couple of decades than in the thirty years before that. The internet has made so much information available! I am so very grateful for that.

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

It has certainly opened a lot of eyes in many ways. I too am thankful. I know my life is richer for it, and yes at times it's a bit more difficult too. I'll take the difficult for the reward of the riches any day.

 

[sereneone4u]

Red, don't feel bad. I am in my fifties, and I've learned more about my genitals in the past couple of decades than in the thirty years before that. The internet has made so much information available! I am so very grateful for that.

It has certainly opened a lot of eyes in many ways. I too am thankful. I know my life is richer for it, and yes at times it's a bit more difficult too. I'll take the difficult for the reward of the riches any day.

Thank you and I agree

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Thank you and I agree

 

[lance gt]

A lot of what we asume to be fact comes from locker room knowledge. It's passed down and retold like a campfire story.
I know an origin in one instance of why a hymen was halfway inside a woman's vagina. According to the joke, it was so only a 'real' guy with a big dick could break it. I can date that joke back over forty years, so it's been instilled as 'fact' before that.
I was concerned when I eventually had the chance to deflower a girl and found it wasn't as I was told. Several more after, let me know to dig up the truth for myself and not pay attention to anything I was told by others.

 

[Feotakahari]

. . .

I just realized that I haven't considered hymens at all in my stories. In most of them, the female character has had sex at least once before, but there's one who's ambiguous, and another who definitely hasn't.

Oh well. I know a girl on another site whose hymen was broken by an unfortunately aimed soccer ball. Hopefully, the readers will assume the girls in my stories had their hymens broken similarly.

 

[sr71plt]

. . .

I just realized that I haven't considered hymens at all in my stories. In most of them, the female character has had sex at least once before, but there's one who's ambiguous, and another who definitely hasn't.

Oh well. I know a girl on another site whose hymen was broken by an unfortunately aimed soccer ball. Hopefully, the readers will assume the girls in my stories had their hymens broken similarly.

For erotica, you certainly don't have to be detailed enough to mention hymens. You probably don't mention either party relieving themselves before or after sex either (and going into details about the process). Again, erotica isn't a clinical study. The literalist readers aren't having nearly the fun in reading erotica as the fantasy seekers are.

 

[Feotakahari]

There's not much I can do with a character relieving himself, but there's definitely characterization to be found in how the character who breaks the hymen goes about doing so--does he feel guilty about the pain, or does he not care in the slightest? For that matter, there are certain implications in the fact of a character's still having an intact hymen. (And potentially, there's even humor. Let's take as an example the Star Wars fanfic A Tangled Web, as described here: "She had done every athletic endeavour offered by Imperial Intelligence, trained in every form of hand-to-hand combat, rode every four-legged beast in the galaxy that a saddle could be thrown over, and her damn hymen had still been intact. It wasn't fair.")

 

[sr71plt]

There's not much I can do with a character relieving himself, but there's definitely characterization to be found in how the character who breaks the hymen goes about doing so--does he feel guilty about the pain, or does he not care in the slightest? For that matter, there are certain implications in the fact of a character's still having an intact hymen. (And potentially, there's even humor. Let's take as an example the Star Wars fanfic A Tangled Web, as described here: "She had done every athletic endeavour offered by Imperial Intelligence, trained in every form of hand-to-hand combat, rode every four-legged beast in the galaxy that a saddle could be thrown over, and her damn hymen had still been intact. It wasn't fair.")

Sure you could have a story like that--in which case you'd want to do the necessary research, yes--but you don't have to do that for every story or to be writing erotica. And you'd still want to keep the clinical stuff to a minimum so as not to gross off most of the readers, who are into erotica for the romance or the foreplay mainly.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

This raises the point of the old days when women could get stoned (okay, in some countries, they still can) over "not being virgins, because they have no hymen". Bad enough that they made it a crime not to be one, but worse still that, given what you have said, many virgins were executed for being "impure" or "playing the harlot", simply due to lack of a hymen.

The old "tokens of virginity" test clearly doesn't have much science behind it.

It also gives me ideas....story ideas, for such terrible times and an innocent being falsely accused....naturally, not without a fight. There are a lot of angles for this theme.

 

[Loring2]

Count me among the minority of readers who would click out of a story that isn't "anatomy accurate".

Yes ... such as "anatomically" accurate ... sorry about that ... don't mean to be an asshole but it was too good to pass up.

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

This raises the point of the old days when women could get stoned (okay, in some countries, they still can) over "not being virgins, because they have no hymen". Bad enough that they made it a crime not to be one, but worse still that, given what you have said, many virgins were executed for being "impure" or "playing the harlot", simply due to lack of a hymen.

The old "tokens of virginity" test clearly doesn't have much science behind it.

It also gives me ideas....story ideas, for such terrible times and an innocent being falsely accused....naturally, not without a fight. There are a lot of angles for this theme.

Very true - never thought of that before and I'm sure many young girls were murdered for simply being unfortunate not to have the hymen in place any more.

As I was driving home last night from an errand, I recalled something my mom told me when I was a young girl and developing. I asked about tampons and she told me that I couldn't use tampons because of Toxic Shock Syndrome but also because I would no longer be a virgin if I used them. It made no sense to me at that time (the virgin comment) but as a kid my mom is supposed to know everything - right?

My kids are blessedly not as ignorant as me in some things. I'm sure there are things I've missed telling them, but they are still in the home with me, so who knows what subjects we can cover before they leave the nest - oh joy. lol

 

[Firebrain]

I've noticed a curious thing reading stories here. Many authors have no idea what or where the hymen (aka "maidenhead") is on the female body, though many love to write about them being breached.

They are most commonly described as being about halfway up inside the vagina. After thinking about it, I remember that more that a few published romance novels contain the same mistake. I'm really curious as to how this inaccuracy has gotten established as common knowledge. Do people really learn about human anatomy solely from works of fiction?

It seems to be a mistake made by male authors as well as female authors.

You might want to reference the current Smartbitches article that most likely prompted you to "share" this

http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/blog/where-is-the-hymen (very good article, as it happens).

 

[macropis]

You might want to reference the current Smartbitches article that most likely prompted you to "share" this

http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/blog/where-is-the-hymen (very good article, as it happens).

Seriously, I hadn't seen that. But if you dig around, I'm sure you'll find other articles older than that one lamenting the same thing. This has bothered me since I was a teenager (several decades ago) reading Harlequin romances. What prompted me to share this was reading several stories that made the mistake on this website over the weekend.

I've known where *my* hymen was since I tore it using a Rely tampon when I was about 15, a number of years before I actually lost my virginity. There was no doubt in my mind what part of my body was torn.

 

[sr71plt]

Very true - never thought of that before and I'm sure many young girls were murdered for simply being unfortunate not to have the hymen in place any more.

I would guess that they were murdered for some other reason--because they were in the way of something desired or because of family feuds--and the missing hymen was just a convenient excuse. I doubt they went around checking all young girls periodically for this.

They did the same thing for centuries concerning skin blemishes for those they wanted to see burned as witches for one reason or other.

 

[NoJo]

Ah yes, Internal Maidenheads. Def one of my favourite prog rock bands of the early 1970's