Myths about virginity

Myth 1 - "You can tell from a woman's hymen whether she's a virgin."

Not even an experienced doctor can tell for sure if a woman is a virgin by looking at her hymen or vagina.

Myth 2 - "You can lose your virginity doing sports or using tampons."

You can only lose your virginity by having sex with another person. What can happen is that your hymen stretches a bit when you use tampons. And it could stretch or tear from doing sports like horse riding or gymnastics.

But whether you’re a virgin or not has nothing to do with the state of your hymen. It depends on whether you’ve had sex.

Myth 3 - "A man can feel if a woman is still a virgin."

Boys and men who say they can feel whether a woman’s a virgin don’t know what they’re talking about. If a doctor can hardly ever tell for sure whether a woman is a virgin or not, there’s no way a man could really be able to feel it.

During sex, a man can tell if a woman is tense. If a woman is nervous or scared, she unconsciously tenses her vagina. This makes the opening of the vagina feel tight.

Myth 4 - "A man needs to push harder the first time."

If that’s what you think, you’ve got a lot to learn about lovemaking! The penis doesn’t have to ‘break through’ anything, it just has to slip into the vagina. If the woman is tense, the muscles of the vagina can feel tight. If that happens, pushing hard is the last thing you should be doing. The vaginal tissue is very tender and can be easily damaged, which can be very painful for the woman.

Be gentle, take your time, and keep stroking, kissing and caressing until the vagina is moist enough for your penis to slip in without pushing. Then sex will be pleasurable for both of you.