Renaming the Hymen

Let’s just go ahead and put this in the where in the world did you come across this one? category. The Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU) has decided it would be a good idea to rename the hymen in order to, um, bust the myths that surround it…(sorry.)

To that end, the RFSU has re-christened the hymen the vaginal corona. And to go along with the new name, they’ve published a manual of sorts for the lay public, Vaginal Corona: Myths Surrounding Virginity–Your Questions Answered (PDF). [To be clear, I would have titled it, The Care and Feeding of Your Vaginal Corona, but that’s just me.] I have to say, for someone who has spent some quality time dispelling the notion of the disappearing hymen, I was absolutely fascinated that someone decided to confront this issue head on. I think it’s worth perusing for the illustrations alone.

Plenty of people have weighed in on this new development. Some of the best coverage from newspapers and blogs:

• LA Times
• Jezebel
• the f-word
• Feminist Law Professors
• Salon: Broadsheet
• Good Vibes