Sent along by Ola with the following message (thanks!):
An instagram photo is going viral of a daughter presenting her father with a certificate of purity, signed by a doctor, saying her hymen was intact before her wedding. Her older sister also presented their father (a Reverend) with a similar certificate at her wedding.
I am just cringing will reading it, because not only is a hymen not a way of "testing" virginity (I believe it's unsettling to even test this), but also, as the article mentions multiple times, it seems there is no male version of this certificate. Her husband claimed to be pure as well at the time of the wedding, but again, no certificate was presented.
The family also seems to be monetizing on this, posting a certificate on their website you can fill out, as well as t-shirts and merchandise pushing the idea of purity and virginity before marriage.
Honestly, the article just makes me sad. I understand she and her family feel pride at the commitment she made, but it's sad that they don't even understand the concept (of virginity) that they are striving so much to "maintain". It also just makes me sad in the larger sense of bodily autonomy, and that somehow a woman is "lesser" if she for some reason could not get such a certificate signed on her wedding.
The certificate that started the firestorm:
Check out the article on CBC, with lots of photos: link. The piece includes a pile of commentary from Twitter and Instagram. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground. People are either highly supportive, or find the story entirely objectionable.
Putting on my clinical hat (and not my personal-opinion hat), the main questions are: Is this causing any distress or harm to anyone? Is this simply a matter of different beliefs and values? Based on my reading of the story, the answers are no, and yes.
Thoughts?