- What's a hymen?

- Uh, ok, it's a

bit of girl, uh,

that covers the vaginal area,

until she has sex.

- Yes, a freshness seal.

- A do not consume if opened.

Sorry.

- Yea, that's what a lot of people think.

(snaps)

People picture the hymen like it's one of those

paper banners at a sports game.

They think it covers up a lady's vagina,

and then when she has sex for the first time,

(blast) it gets busted.

(marching band playing)

- Seems pretty accurate.

- Yep, let's go play video games.

- No, you don't.

Everything about that is wrong.

Ok, think about it,

if our hymen's completely sealed our vaginas,

where would our periods go?

I mean, we'd blow up like the blueberry girl

in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

- Oh yea, and where would you pee?

- You know we don't pee out of our vaginas, right?

We pee out of our urethras.

Which is a separate hole.

You're a health teacher.

- And our school district is very underfunded.

So that's how many holes total?

- The hymen is actually a thin, stretchy bit

around the vagina.

In most women, our hymens have an opening

that's big enough for tampons, fingers,

and yes, gettin' busy.

(romantic saxophone tune)

But it's not like a barrier.

It's more like a (snaps)

balloon arch.

(marching band playing)

- Ok, but doesn't the hymen break

the first time you have sex?

Like doesn't it hurt?

- It doesn't have to.

It might if you're not careful with it.

(tuba player playing tune) (balloons popping)

- Oh! Gee! Oh! Fudge!

I damaged the balloon arch.

Oh! F--

God.

- But, it can also tear from doing the splits,

(balloons popping)

or just living our lives.

Even then, hymens can heal.

And a lot of them never even get torn in the first place.

One study found that 52% of sexually active teenage women

had intact hymens.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- H-Y-M-E-N,

not well understood by men!

Go hymen! (audience cheering)

- The hymen as you understand it

is a straight up myth.

- Ok, Emily, are you sure about that?

Maybe you should call in an expert.

- Yea, that's a good call.

- That's what I usually do, so...

- How's this for an expert?

- Good point, I feel bad.

- Our bodies don't come with built in virginity detectors,

and sex isn't supposed to hurt the first time.

But this horrible idea is everywhere in our culture.

(whistle blown)

From Ska bands--

(ska song)

- Ugh, bad name.

- to popular t.v. shows.

- So there's a good chance that Megan was never raped?

- These are Megan's medical records.

An intact hymen.

- [Voiceover] She's a virgin.

- Even the New York Times gets it wrong.

The Times knows more about regional politics in Finland

than the female body.

- Honestly, the worse part is the word daddy.

- Yea, that is inappropriate.

- It gets way worse than band names.

In some parts of the world,

women are forced to show

government officials that their hymen is intact.

If they don't, they can be denied jobs,

barred from making rape accusations,

even thrown in jail.

Sorry Adam,

I know that this is usually the point where

you do some cute visual gag, I just--

- No, skip it. That's awful.

- Really, really awful.

- Yea, virginity exams are straight up sexual assault,

and they don't even prove anything because

the hymen doesn't work that way.

Physically speaking, virginity doesn't exist.

It's just something we made up to be mean to women,

like Entourage. (snaps)

- Oh, uh, wow. I learned something.

That felt great.

I feel taller. Do I look taller?

- Glad to help.

Anyways, it's time for you to go.

- Oh, Emily, you know,

usually I do more of a wrap up than that--

- Nope, hit the road.

It's date night and clock's ticking.

(electronic sounds)

- Hey, I'm Adam from College Humor.

If you like that clip,

make sure to check out my new show

Adam Ruins Everything.

Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on truTV.

It's gonna ruin your Tuesday,

but, trust me, the rest of your week'll be fine.