Hymenscission
Compiled By Sohail Moughal
15 August 2006
In Greek mythology, Hymen or Hymenaeus was the god of marriage and the marriage
feast or song. In Anatomy, Hymen is a thin fold of mucous membrane found at
the orifice of the female vagina, also called the vaginal membrane. Hymen is
found in many female organisms in addition to human females. It is usually believed
to be torn by sexual intercourse. Additionally, hymen can also be ruptured by
any number of other activities including medical examinations, injury, masturbation,
certain types of exercises like biking, horse-back riding, dancing and introduction
of a foreign object, etc. Sometimes a hymen can break without the women even
knowing it. Some women experience a small amount of bleeding due to breaking
or stretching of the hymen. Hymen can have various forms, thicknesses and degrees
of flexibility and not all of them significantly obstruct the opening of the
vagina, so that menstrual fluid can leave the body. Conversely, one in 2000
women are born with an imperfect hymen and in such cases a woman's hymen is
imperforate, and as menstrual discharge cannot then escape, surgical intervention
to break it is necessary to protect her health.
Virginity is a term used to describe what a person has when he or she has not
yet engaged in sexual intercourse. Meaning that a male or the female can both
be virgins until they have had sexual intercourse. With the standard usage of
the term virginity, it has been more commonly applied to women than to men.
Until recent past the term virgin was used to simply describe a female unmarried
person or a young girl, because a female with untorn or commonly referred to
as unbroken or intact vaginal membrane is the proof of her virginity. A physical
evidence which is so inappropriate to rely on as the absence of a hymen, however,
is not necessarily an indication of participation in sexual intercourse, since
in some women the hymen is either absent from birth, or sufficiently vestigial
not to be affected by sexual penetration. During the Middle English period,
the word "maid" referred to a virgin person, whether male or female,
who had never been married. Depending on the persons belief and interpretation,
any form of sex, can be considered to be the reason for losing virginity.
This one organ that we are talking about, the vagina, involves a number of phenomena
in women, like sex, love, rape, menstruation, mutilation, masturbation, birth,
virginity and orgasm. Some of these are common to men too, but not all of them
and not to that intensity. All these issues have stemmed various controversies
in various cultures and religions. Most of all the concept of virginity has
been a source of continuous stress for women. For men loosing virginity does
not change anything physiologically, but for a women it does, and for some women
it changes their whole world.
Scission means, the act of cutting or severing; division or fission. Circumcision
is the surgical removal of the foreskin of the penis in males, or sometimes
also used for prepuce of the clitoris in females. Male circumcision is prehistoric,
as old as Stone age and the Egyptian hieroglyphics, and evidence of the practice
dating back to some 5000BC. Theories include that circumcision is a form of
ritual sacrifice or offering, a sign of submission to a deity, a rite of passage
to adulthood, a mark of defeat or slavery, or an attempt to alter esthetics
or sexuality. Or is it just a less brutal way of continuing the ancient custom
of sacrificing newborn children, or the first born male sacrifice, as known
to have been done by Carthaginians or Phoenicians. All that openeth the matrix
is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle that is male. All the firstborn
of thy sons thou shalt redeem. (Exo 22:29-30 NIV). Let no one be found among
you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination
or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft (Deu 18:10 NIV). This redemption
tax of five sicles, calculated also to remind the Israelites of the death inflicted
upon the first-born of the Egyptians in punishment of Pharaoh's stubbornness
(Exodus 13:15-16), went to the endowment-fund of the clergy. I just want to
prove that sacrifice of the first born was a recurring practice before the famous
monotheistic religions came. Islamic tradition also says it was practiced by
Sarah on Hagar and that afterwards both Sarah and Abraham circumcised themselves
by order of Allah. It was wide spread in the Middle East and was first introduced
as a religious rite by Hebrews. For Jews it represents the fulfillment of the
covenant between God and Abraham (Genesis 17:10–14). Some however argue
that Jewish circumcision did not assume its present form until as late as the
Maccabees (165 BC). Christians were not obliged to be circumcised and was first
recorded biblically in Acts 15, but there was never, however, a prohibition
of circumcision. The Virgin Mary was likewise said to have been circumcised
according to Robert Briffault, a 20th century French anthropologist, surgeon,
historian, social critic, and novelist. Some say that the origin of the requirement
of circumcision in Islam is a matter of religious and scholarly debate. It is
mentioned in some parts of the Hadith, but not in the Qur'an. Some Islamic scholars
think that it is obligatory. Moreover, there are some who interpret verses in
the Qur'an to imply that the requirement of circumcision is based on the covenant
with Abraham. Those who support circumcision sometimes explain their views in
terms of the perceived medical benefits of the procedure. Sometimes, Circumcision
may be undertaken as a body modification of the genitals to change the look
of the penis to appeal more to certain aesthetics. Some have propagated the
possibility of better hygiene but this aspect has also been rejected by scientists.
It is to be noted that males do not loose their virginity after circumcision.
The do not loose their sexual drive after circumcision. They do not loose the
proof of being virgins. They do not have to stop from having sex after the circumcision.
Conclusively, male circumcision has its goods and bads, and many have debated
on this concept, but it is not a compulsion set by any religious or medical
books of this world. It seems more ritual or cultural than anything.
Female circumcision, known to be older than male circumcision, (also known as
female genital mutilation FGM, or female genital cutting FGC) is usually performed
for cultural and social reasons by family members and sometimes others who are
not members of the medical profession, with no anesthesia. Also called clitoridectomy,
it involves partial or complete removal of the clitoris, prepuce, or labia of
a girl or young woman. Female circumcision can be type I, type II, type III
or type IV, depending on the severity of mutilation. In Type III (called infibulation
or pharaonic circumcision) the vaginal opening is sewn with sutures after the
circumcision, (sometimes with thorns in Sudan) to make the opening small equal
to an opening as small as a matchstick-diameter, left for urine and menstrual
flow. After the surgery, the girl's legs are tied together for around two weeks
to prevent her from moving the wound. Liquids are heavily rationed until the
incision is healed. During this primitive yet major surgery, it is not uncommon
for girls, who are held down by female relatives, to die from shock or hemorrhage
of the vagina, urethra, bladder, and rectal area may also be damaged, and massive
keloid scarring can obstruct walking for life. After marriage, women who have
been infibulated (Type III FGM) must be forcibly penetrated. "This may
take up to forty days, and when men are impatient, a knife is used to widen
the opening. This practice is supposed to ensure the virginity of a bride on
her wedding day. It also prevents the woman from achieving sexual pleasure during
coitus. The reasons given for clitoridectomies in Egypt are 'cleanliness,' and
'so that girls will not run after men." Special honeymoon centers are built
outside communities so that the "screams of the brides will not be heard".
There is a also bloodthirsty rite associated with infibulation in which the
husband runs through the streets holding the bloodstained dagger to declare
he has 'opened' his wife for conception. What joy can there be in conception
if the women dont have the sensitive tissue to enjoy it and rather get stabbed
in the vagina every time to get pregnant.
I think God apparently created the clitoris for the sole purpose of generating
pleasure. It has no other purpose. Thus God must approve of its presence. What
your Lord provides is far better, and everlasting. And so, it should not be
removed or reduced in size or function. I have immense sympathy for women who
have the "cruelest cut" in the interests of making them "good
mothers". FGM has been practiced among certain cultures, especially in
parts of Africa, Middle East and Western Asia since the BC. Today, an estimated
(127m) one hundred and twenty seven million women have undergone the sexual
mutilation. It is performed in many African countries, including Sudan, Somalia,
Ethiopia, Kenya, and Chad. It is also a tradition among Muslims in Malaysia
and Indonesia, and in a number of countries in the Middle East, including Egypt,
the UAE, and parts of rural Saudi Arabia. Coptic Christians in Egypt and animist
tribes in Africa as well as Muslims, undergo the ritual. It has probably been
performed for at least 1,400 years (some references estimate 2,000 years), and
started during what Muslims call "al-gahiliyyah" (the era of ignorance).
The Qur'an, Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and Christian Scriptures (New
Testament) is silent on the subject. The Sun nah (the words and actions of the
Prophet Mohammed) contains a reference to female circumcision. 'Um Atiyyat al-Ansariyyah
said: A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina. The Prophet Mohammad said
to her: Do not cut too severely as that is better for a woman and more desirable
for a husband. This passage is regarded by many Muslims as having little credibility
or authenticity. One interpretation of this passage is that the woman was going
to proceed with the circumcision anyway, even if the prophet had prohibited.
There is no evidence that any of Muhammad's wives or daughters were circumcised.
The Muslim Women's League comments: "According to Sayyid Sabiq, renowned
scholar and author of Fiqh-us-Sunnah, all hadiths concerning female circumcision
are non-authentic. FGM was also sometimes practiced in English-speaking nations
as well after the first half of the Twentieth Century, ostensibly to stop masturbation.
In the nineteenth century, women in the United States and Europe were also circumcised
sometimes because it was believed to relieve epilepsy, hysteria, and insanity.
Today, an estimated one hundred million women have undergone the sexual mutilation.
In the West, the procedure is outlawed in Britain, Canada, France, Norway, Sweden,
Switzerland and the United States. But legislation against FGM can be counter-productive
in some cases. It might force the practice deeply underground. Women may not
seek medical care because their parents might be charged. FGC or FGM enters
human rights discourse primarily on the basis of three issues: informed consent,
patriarchal oppression, and violence against women. The United Nations has supported
the right of member states to grant refugee status to women who fear being mutilated
if they are returned to their country of origin. Canada has been the leading
country so far in awarding refugee status to women with such fears. Also, the
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is ambiguous about FGM. On one hand,
Article 24, paragraph 3 states: "States Parties shall take all effective
and appropriate measures with a view to abolishing traditional practices prejudicial
to the health of children.". But Article 29 paragraph 1.c calls for: "The
development of respect for the child's parents, his or her own cultural identity,
language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child
is living, the country from which he or she may originate, and for civilizations
different from his or her own."
African feminists generally
reject the imported women's rights discourse that universally adopts an assumption
of male dominance, and prefer instead to realize their gender roles on their
own terms. The violence against women claim is complicated by the fact that
the ritual is primarily continued by women and often against the wishes of a
growing majority of men. The issue of informed consent mirrors the debate about
male circumcision though with far more intensity. African feminists are aware
that this issue is a convenient tool for powerful political units to manipulate
in pursuing hidden agendas. Many women from African backgrounds in the USA,
have been known to have asked for reinfibulation after each delivery. The practice
of female genital mutilation is not universally approved by the medical profession
and is considered by many to be a human rights violation.
There have been various methods used in the world to ensure female virginity.
In the past, during middle ages, urine tests were conducted and it was believed
that a virgin's urine is clear and sparkling. It was also believed that women's
breast should always point upwards. These tests were considered unromantic and
thus magical objects were used to test virginity. A common object was the magic
drinking horn. Women who attempted to drink from it and were not faithful to
their husbands would spill the wine inside of the magic horn. There is a centuries-old
Indian custom where a skein of thread is used to detect the presence of an intact
hymen. "Impure" brides are beaten to reveal the names of their "lovers"
and then these lovers are forced to pay large amounts of money to the bride's
family. Sometimes the brides would name any man that comes to mind to avoid
torture. Other tests used are "purity by water" or "Agnipariksha"
(trial by fire). In the purity by water test, the woman has to hold her breath
under water while another person takes one hundred steps. If she is unable to
do this, she is not considered a virgin. In the trial by fire test, the brides
have to walk with red-hot iron in their hands with just a plate made out of
leaves and dough to shield her hands from the heat. If her hands are burnt,
she is considered to be impure. There are countries like Turkey, where virginity
testing is common and sometimes women have committed suicides before taking
such a test. In South Africa, there is a common myth that having sex with a
virgin can cure AIDS. This has resulted in infant rapes and most women started
hiding their virginity. Some people think that promoting virginity could be
the solution to increasing AIDS victims. Many women in Southern African tribes
are volunteering for virginity testing to prove to the world that they are pure
and free of AIDS. Sometimes a single glove is used to test all the volunteers.
Amnesty International consider forced virginity testing to be egregious form
of gender-based violence constituting torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment.
Is virginity the reason behind prostitution, the oldest profession of mankind.
Is the existance of hymen the root cause of all virginity related issues in
this world. Is virginity a reason given to men to keep women oppressed in one
way or other. Does the element of virginity ensure propagation of human species.
The path of life is the path of the clitoris. The hymen has to be broken at
one point or the other. Who says it should be broken by sexual intercourse only.
It was unfortunately designed to break and bleed to an unreturnable condition.
Female sexuality is not something to fear or destroy. We do not need to cut
up or stitch up our partners 'vagina' for her to be faithful to us. Lets issue
a 21st Century Commandment, "Thou shalt not mutilate another person, nor
encourage nor allow genital or other self-mutilation for religious, sexual or
moral purposes". When is a generation of women going to rise up, not to
fight, not to war, but to honor themselves and each other. This very fine and
intimate membrane, so called honor, is personal to women and no one else has
the right to make decisions about it. Why to face the misfortune of someone
judging you at the most important day of your life just because you didn't bleed,
or make the bed sheet red. Why to let someone go out on the street and announce
the most intimate details of your person.
I guess, if the society or the cultures or the religions or the governments
do not recognize the problem then women should recognize it in the shape of
hymenscission. A newly defined term or a phenomena, that allows them to break
their own hymens themselves soon after birth or whenever they wish to, to prove
to the rest of the world, that if they dont trust in their will to protect their
own honor and dignity then the world does not deserve to experience it never
ever again. Those 127 million mothers instead of enforcing FGM can start enforcing
hymenscission. Men can go and find hymens somewhere else.