All people should be knowledgeable and aware of certain aspects of the human body, both male and female bodies. 

One part of the female body that is commonly misunderstood is the hymen. 

In an episode of the podcast “Ladies Like Us” rapper T.I. discussed with the hosts, model Nazanin Mandi and makeup artist Nadia Moham, that he goes to the gynecologist with his daughter annually to “check her hymen.” 

T.I. went on to describe how after his daughter’s 16th birthday he took her to a gynecologist and his daughter went on to sign a form so that T.I. could hear the information the doctor spoke to his daughter about and to know whether or not his daughter’s hymen was intact. 

T.I. said the doctor explained to him that hymens can be broken in circumstances other than sex like, “bike riding, athletics, horseback riding and just other forms of athletic physical activity.” 

T.I. said he responded with “look doc, she don’t ride no horses. She don’t ride no bike. She don’t play no sports. Just check the hymen please and give me back my results — expeditiously.” 

We at The Daily Eastern News believe it is unfortunate that a man and father of T.I.’s age is not aware of how invasive that interaction was and how irrelevant the status of the hymen is in relation to whether or not a person has had vaginal intercourse. 

To understand what an intact hymen vs. a broken one means, people should first understand what a hymen is. 

A hymen is a thin membrane that partially covers the opening of the vagina. 

When the hymen is “broken” what is actually happening is the stretching of the vaginal opening, according to Planned Parenthood. 

The hymen can be stretched in several ways that do not include intercourse like riding a bike, doing sports or putting something in the vagina. 

T.I. going to the appointments with his daughter is beyond intrusive on its own but asking the doctor for the status of his now 18-year-old daughter’s hymen is not telling of anything and should be completely irrelevant.  

While we applaud T.I. saying he has had the “sex talk” with his daughters and educates them on related matters, we reject his idea that he should involve himself so heavily in his daughter’s intimate business and that he places a value on his daughter’s virginity to such an extreme. 

The Daily Eastern News believes young women should understand that the hymen status is not important and that parents of young women should take the time to educate themselves on all aspects of the human body so that they can better help their children as they go into adulthood.