The press release explains that the new name came about last spring, when the Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU) published a book "intended to dispel some of the myths surrounding the hymen and virginity." The book describes what the female genitals actually look like and what the hymen (whoops, sorry, vaginal corona) really is.

Apparently, the word "hymen" comes from the Greek word for membrane. In Swedish, the word of hymen was mödomshinna, which translates literally as "virginity membrane." However, the book explains that the hymen is actually made up of folds of mucous membrane. They also describe the appearance of the hymen:

Every woman's corona looks different - just like ear lobes, noses and labia - and differs in size, colour and shape... It is slightly pink, almost transparent, but if it's thicker it may look a little paler or whitish. It may resemble the petals of a rose or other flower, it may be carnation-shaped, or it may look like a jigsaw piece or half-moon.

Pretty!

More importantly, the booklet points out that the hymen has little to do with virginity. There is no such thing as "breaking" the hymen. The corona can be torn slightly, or experience minor trauma, but since the tissue is elastic, it is never entirely ruptured. Contrary to popular belief, the book claims that the hymen also can't be broken by a bike seat or riding a horse. RFSU secretary general Åsa Regnér explains:

The vaginal corona is a permanent part of a woman's body throughout her life. It doesn't disappear after she first has sexual intercourse, and most women don't bleed the first time. The myths surrounding the hymen were created to control women's freedom and sexuality. The only way to counteract this is by disseminating knowledge.

In order to do this, the RFSU has translated the book into several languages commonly spoken in Sweden. It makes for an interesting read - the discussion of the virginity myth is particularly good - and has taught me a couple new things about my lady parts. Unfortunately, I'm not sure the name is going to stick. While I only have good associations with the word "corona," its too hard not to think of it "with lime" rather than "carnation-shaped mucous membrane." And frankly, I prefer the former.

Time For More Accurate Terminology: Hymen Renamed "Vaginal Corona" [RFSU]
Hymen, I Hardly Knew Ya [Feministe]
Vaginal Corona Booklet (PDF) [RFSU]

Roye notes, rightly, that a hymen is mostly known for its supposed effects, which is to say, the blood that is shed when a woman is first penetrated. Most people have never looked carefully at their own, let alone someone else's, and don't know what they are looking at. So when a doctor is supposedly reconstructing a hymen — which is as different on each woman as the rest of her external genitalia — he's mostly making the geneialia into something that will bleed, and what people expect to see. In effect, doctors who perform the surgery are not only perpetuating the fetishization of virginity but actually constructing a new myth of what it's supposed to look like and be.

Roye is often asked by parents to examine their daughters and prove that they are still intact — though, under state law, she's only allowed to answer if given permission by the teenager. The problem is that, if she can tell at all whether a hymen is intact or broken, she can't tell whether it's due to sexual intercourse or not. Those answers aren't helpful to young women, or their parents, seeking some sort of yes or no without even knowing what they are asking the doctor to examine.

As someone who had sex for months with an intact hymen after losing my virginity, the larger point Roye wants to make rings the most true for me.

I believe that virginity is what the individual thinks it is. It certainly is for men, who bear no tell-tale signs of lost virginity.

The concept of virginity has an emotional connotation. It is more than just the physical disruption of hymenal tissue.

If a young woman has had a sexual relationship with her partner, and she feels that she has lost her virginity, then she has, regardless of what actually happened to her hymen during the encounter.

The problem with Roye's logic, of course, is that it gives the woman agency over her body, her choices and her opinions. The kind of people that want their daughters' or potential wives' hymens parsed — or restored — want exactly the opposite.

Hymen Mystique Remains Intact In Bare-All Culture [Women's eNews]

Earlier: When Being A Born-Again Virgin Requires Surgery
Hymens: The New Old Chastity Belts?

"Is Believing In Creationism Grounds For A Breakup?" from Pot Psychology on Vimeo.

Continues the site:

Do you now feel like 'second-hand goods' and no longer worthy to be cherished? Do you ever wish you could re-wrap it and give it only to your future husband or wife? Guess what? You can decide today to commit to abstinence, wrapping a brand-new gift of virginity to present to your husband or wife on your wedding night.

Born-Again Virgins Claim To Rewrite The Past [MSNBC]

• Offensive or stupid? We'll laugh at pretty much anything but yeah, this is kinda bad. [Feministing]
  
• Another, less-troubling side of vaginal reconstruction. [Feministing]
  
• Female porn stars are supporting Hillary Clinton. Radar]
  
• Women who aren't porn stars also supporting Hillary Clinton. [ABCNews]
  
• Gen-X moms get their way in the modern workplace. [Babble]

• A blogger on Babble stresses the importance of creating good memories for kids on family vacations. Ha! Wonder what she'd say about that camping trip back in the '80s in which our parents split up? [Babble]
• God we love the internet. Britain is getting ready to create an online list of deadbeat dads. [Telegraph]
• Got fibroids? Here are some ways to deal with them. [CNN]
• Second female Afghan journalist gunned down within five days. [Guardian]