Recreating Virginity in Iran: Hymenoplasty as a Form of Resistance

Abstract

Hymenoplasty is a controversial surgery in Iran, where a woman's failure to present herself as virginal for marriage may result in severe social repercussions. Critical literature surrounding this clandestine surgery is sparse. During ethnographic fieldwork in Tehran, I interviewed women who have and have not undergone hymenoplasty and physicians who perform it. Using a Foucauldian framework, I argue that the medicalization of virginity is a form of female social control in Iran. The resulting narratives and discourses suggest that hymenoplasty is a covert form of resistance against socioculturally prescribed sexual inegalitarianism that restricts women to the social sphere of premarital chastity. By manipulating the medicalization of virginity, women inadvertently resist dichotomous gendered classifications that constrain them as either the deviant woman who has premarital sex or the normal woman who remains virginal until marriage. These women deviate from a fixed notion of gender embodiment, eroding socioculturally constituted categorical boundary markers regarding femininity.

Humhandara and hujaya: Virginity, Culture, and Gender Inequalities Among Adolescents in Zimbabwe

“…The issue of virginity is so crucial that in some countries, such as Egypt and Georgia, men are demanding medical verifications of their fiancées' virgin status (Kamm, 2016;Wynn & Hassanein, 2017). Iranian women who are not virgins when they get married may experience societal consequences such as divorce, exclusion, and aggression (Ahmadi, 2016). In one apostolic sect in Zimbabwe as recently as 2014, married women who were not virgins when they got married were instructed to acquire virgin girls to compensate their husbands (Vengeyi, 2016).…”

“…According to Ahmadi (2016), women's sexuality is usually controlled through entrenched cultural discourse and practices. This was evident in the study whereby cultural symbols are linked to humhandara and family honor with no parallel for hujaya:…”

A study on association of premarital attitude toward intact hymen in new grooms: A cross-sectional study

“…[ 2 3 4 ] It is imperative that they preserve their virginity until marriage with sexual abstinence, and bring this value to the husband's house. [ 5 6 ]…”

Virginity Testing Beyond a Medical Examination

“…It may be ruptured or not rupture by sexual intercourse (elastic hymen). Otherwise, it may be rupture accidentally by tampon use or through some exercise ( Hegazi & Rukban, 2012 ) Acts of violence against women with damaged hymens prior to marriage is a significant matter that has been criticized by various international forums in many Mediterranean and Asian countries ( Zeyneloğlu, Kısa, & Yılmaz, 2013 ; Cook & Dickens, 2009 ; Ahmadi, 2015 ), especially violence that leads to “honor killings.” These murders are not limited to Mediterranean countries, but are also reported from Bangladesh, Brazil, Egypt, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Pakistan, and Sweden ( Zeyneloğlu, Kısa, & Yılmaz, 2013 ; Cook & Dickens, 2009 ). The increased demand for hymen repair surgery to prevent personal and social devastation as a direct result of loss of virginity has given the consequences of virginity testing a new dimension ( Awwad et al, 2013 ).…”