Taiwan Women’s Link yesterday called on the government to use the term “vaginal corona” rather than “virgin membrane” to refer to the hymen.
The civic group at a news conference at the legislature in Taipei unveiled the results of an online survey, which showed that 88.93 percent of respondents agreed that the term should be changed, while only 6.31 percent disagreed.
Among those that agreed it should be changed, 38.9 percent thought “vaginal corona” should be used, 27 percent “vaginal membrane” and 15.76 percent “vaginal valve,” the results showed.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
The 1,220 respondents were 76.97 percent biologically female and 19.51 percent biologically male, showing that women take their rights and interests seriously, and are more willing to take action to protect them, the group said.
Some respondents disapproved of the word “virgin,” while others thought that the word “membrane” should be omitted because it has the connotation that it can be “broken,” Taiwan Women’s Link secretary-general Chen Su-fang (陳書芳) said.
Taiwan Women’s Link founder and chairperson Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) said that 41 civic groups had joined a petition to change the term, adding that she hopes the government would respond to public opinion.
She questioned the term “virgin membrane,” asking: “Is being a virgin or not so important?”
Huang said she would visit the Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday afternoon to submit the petition and the results of the survey.
Huang said that the Mandarin term for lochia — e lu (惡露), which translates as “bad exposure” — should also be changed.
The lochia refers to the blood and endometrium tissue discharged after giving birth to protect the fetus, she said, suggesting that it should be called chan lu (產露), which translates as “discharge during childbirth.”
Taiwan Society of Plastic Surgery director-general Tai Hao-chih (戴浩志) said that the society supports the campaign, as “the hymen has nothing to do with being a virgin or not, and a broken hymen does not mean impurity.”
The English term “hymen” comes from Hymenaeus, the god of marriage in Greek mythology, and it has no association with virginity, Tai said.
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