When Men Want to Test Virginity

2.10.2012 | By: T. P.

It's common for muslim men to test virginity and women are prepared to do many things to prove they are still virgins.

Women in Islam experience a lot of fear and thus often decide for the surgical reconstruction of their "virginity". (PhotoXpress)

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Virginity is highly appreciated in the Muslim world. Even if a man doesn't give a toss about his bride’s virginity, there is his family who want evidence. The word of the bride is not a proof and neither is the blood-stained sheet. The proof is the confirmation of the family’s gynaecologist who examines the bride before the wedding. Only his word counts. For this reason, increasingly more Muslim women decide on an operation that ensures them to be proud of their virginity.

Four years ago, an interesting case was filed in a French court. In the country of equality, freedom and brotherhood, the husband succeeded in annulling his marriage at the lower instance court because his wife deceived him claiming she was a virgin.

Prominent feminist Elisabeth Badinter said: “The judgment was a betrayal of France’s Muslim women. It sends these women a message of despair by saying that virginity is important in the eyes of the law. More women are going to say to themselves, ‘My God, I’m not going to take that risk. I’ll recreate my virginity.’"

“Who am I to judge?” asked Dr Marc Abecassis, the plastic surgeon who carries out such operations. “I have colleagues in the United States whose patients do this as a Valentine’s present for their husbands. What I do is different. This is not for amusement. My patients don’t have a choice if they want to find serenity — and husbands.” Dr Abecassis performs two to four hymen restorations per week.

The French College of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians strongly opposes the procedure. “We had a revolution in France to win equality; we had a sexual revolution in 1968 when women fought for contraception and abortion. Attaching so much importance to the hymen is regression, submission to the lack of tolerance and the past,” said Jacques Lanscan, the association’s president.

Rachida Dati, the minister of justice, was also attacked because she gave support to the initial judgement. Under the pressure of the public and the parliament, she has ordered an appeal against the judgement. The ministry of justice presented their arguments for the decision: the court’s ruling has “provoked a heated social debate” and “it touched all citizens of our country and especially women.” There is sympathy for the destiny of the unfortunate bride at the Islamic Centre of Roubaix, where the wedding took place. “The man is the biggest of all donkeys,” said Abdelkibir Errami. “Even if the woman was no longer a virgin, he had no right to expose her honor. This is not what Islam teaches. It teaches forgiveness.”