Saturday, December 17, 2005

The Complex Issue of Hymen Reconstructive Surgery

The Happy Feminist is one of several feminist blogs writing about hymen reconstruction surgery. Apparently, this procedure, where a woman pays some $5,000 to have her hymen restored, though the article points out that you can get it for $1,800 at a place in Queens.

(I'm sorry, but no part of "Let's get plasic surgery on our genital regions done in at a place in Queens, it's cheaper there!" sounds like a good idea.)

Anyway, this article has a lot of background on the issue, including the story of a woman who did pay $5,000 to give her husband a night with a virgin. I asked the CSO and he said he'd rather have the 5k as a down payment on Miata. Smart man.

Tightening of the vaginal walls strikes me as, like penile implants, sort of silly but basically harmless.

One aspect of hymen replacment that the article overlooks is that hymen restoration does sometimes have great therapeutic value for rape victims. Skeptical as I am about the surgery in general, that does seem to be a significant use for it.

CC

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Where do they take the tissue from?
this is definitely something I have never thought about before.



P.S. I just noticed you have The Emerson Avenger on your list of hangouts. Do you go there and obsess about something irrelevant to his site?

Chalicechick said...

According to the article:

"The modern version of hymenoplasty requires a local anesthetic and no hospitalization. A doctor uses dissolvable stitches to reconnect the skin membrane that once partially covered the opening to the vagina. Intercourse will tear the membrane causing pain and bleeding."


CC

Ps. Nah, I've just known Robin for awhile and have seen him on better days.

Anonymous said...

Interesting for rape victims.

Though the idea reminds me of an all to common procedure docs did a generation ago called the "husband stitch" done after an episiotomy or tear after childbirth. Doc would sew the perineum tighter than it was originally for dad to have a nice tight fit later.

Cecily

Chalicechick said...

Yeah, they still do that sort of thing.

As I wrote in my post, seems like the equivilent of penile implants and the sorts of things guys do to get bigger sometimes.

Shrug.

I'm with theCSO. I'll take the Miata.

CC

indrax said...

"he'd rather have the 5k as a down payment on Miata."

Who's Miata? She must be quite a girl...

;-)

Chalicechick said...

What can I say?

We like 'em fast...

CC

Anonymous said...

I am going to say something hard. I am a rape victim. I was raped when I was 16. I wanted to save my virginity for marriage, and I haven't quite been abstinent since, yet, this is a surgery that I have contemplated before I even knew that they did it. Does it really work?

Chalicechick said...

Does it work in the physical sense that you have something that feels like a hymen and you can have the physical feeling of losing your virginity again?

I haven't had this myself, but from everything I've red, yes, it does give that feeling.

But whether that physical feeling would be of psychological and symbolic significance to you is more of an individual thing and is probably best explored with a therapist.

CC