Blogging on Meds

Weird…two stories in two days on Muslim women who’ve had premarital sex trying to get a hymenoplasty, where a doctor uses “stitches to repair the broken membrane so that it partially covers the opening of the vagina.” Why would women do this? Because in many Muslim countries, women are expected to be virgins when they’re married, so some are opting for the surgery to magically become virgins again. The WSJ did a story two days ago about the uproar in France (subscription needed) following a court’s ruling annuling a marriage because the man discovered that his wife wasn’t a virgin on their wedding night. The court said that it was a breach of contract, and now people are calling for the Justice Minister to resign! Then, the NYT did a story about Muslim women and virginity.

Personally, chalk me down as someone who’s a bit torn on this issue. On the one hand, I can understand critics’ arguments that the procedure perpetuates the repression of women in Muslim countries and stifles attempts to advance womens’ rights in those nations. You can’t become a virgin again, no matter how hard you try…not to mention that you’re lying to your prospective husband and presumably your family, and his. At the same time, shouldn’t this at least be an option for Muslim women, or any woman for that matter, who chooses to do it? One of the arguments in favor of abortion is that women who are desperate enough to avoid having a child will turn to dangerous methods, including underground abortions, that could lead to death. Indeed, around 70,000 women die each year from unsafe abortions. Part of the reason some women get an abortion is cultural (i.e. it’s taboo to have a child out of wedlock and can lead to the woman and her family being ostracized), and that’s true whether you’re Muslim or Catholic. Now, I’m not sure if there is some sort of underground hymenoplasty, and there certainly doesn’t seem to be any way to do it yourself, so maybe this argument is a stretch. But, some women may think that they’ll be severely ostracized and may even be put in physical danger unless they prove that they are virgins, so shouldn’t they at least have an outlet to have this procedure done by a trained doctor in a safe environment? Thoughts?

Now that she’s a virgin again, she only wears white…