I den svenska skolan är jämlikhet ett viktigt begrepp i skolans värdegrundsplan när det gäller såväl etnicitet, kön som sexualitet. Därav har jag valt att titta på två specifika begrepp för att se hur elever på två gymnasieskolor ser på dem. Begreppet är ”oskuld” samt ”mödomshinna”. Detta är normer och myter som kan motverka just jämställdhet och integritet hos eleven och där av anser jag det viktigt att se hur eleverna ställer sig till de utvalda begreppen. Två skolor, totalt 6 klasser i Stockholms län medverkar i denna enkät som skickas ut, totalt 95 stycken elever valde att besvara enkäten. De enkätsvar som kom in analyserades genom en diskursanalys och tolkas sedan med hjälp av genusteoretiska perspektiv. Det går att se såväl likheter som skillnader, något som återkommer är dock sättet att se på oskuld, de ord eleverna främst förknippar med oskuld är ”orörd” samt ”ren”. En intressant sak sker när frågan om oskuld ställs om och riktas åt att handla om ett specifikt kön. Då skedde en skillnad, tjejer som är oskuld anses fortfarande vara ”orörda” och ”rena” precis så som eleverna tolkar begreppet i allmänhet. Men en kille som är oskuld, han är istället oerfaren och cool. I denna uppsats redovisas resultatet av vad eleverna anser att en oskuldsnorm står för samt hur de tolkar mödomshinnan. / Equality is an important concept in the core values in Sweden. Both in terms of ethnicity, gender and sexuality. I have chosen to look at two specific concepts to see how the students at two high schools see it. The two concepts are “virgin” and “hymen”. These are norms and myths that can counteract equality and integrity amongst the students, this is why I believe it is important to see the students’ attitude towards the concept. Two schools, a total of six classes in the county of Stockholm contribute in the survey of the two concepts that had been sent out, totally 95 students chose to participate in the survey. The answers that came in where analyzed by a discourse analysis and are then interpreted with the help of gender perspectives. You can see both similarities and differences; something recurring is the way to see the concept ”virgin”. The words that the students mostly associate with virgin are “untouched” and “pure”.  But an interesting thing happened when the question of virgin is switched and directed to be about a specific gender.  Then there was a difference, girls being virgins is still considered to be “untouched” and “pure” as the students interpret the concept in general. But a guy being a virgin is instead “unexperienced” and “cool”. In this essay the results of what the students believe a virgin-norm and hymen stands for is presented.

This paper interprets the myth of the hymen through the archetypal theory of Carl Gustav Jung. Today it has been proven that there exists no hymen that breaks at a woman’s first intercourse. Nonetheless, the myth of the hymen lives on – creating enormous consequences for girls and women. In several cultures the hymen symbolizes purity and a gift to be offered to the man on the wedding night. According to the theories of C. G. Jung, the human psyche contains archaic remains that run cross cultures within the whole of humanity. These remains, called archetypes by Jung, hold special functions within the subconscious, and have been expressed in religions, myths and fairytales since the beginning of mankind, according to Jung. In this paper, tales and collectively held ideas about the hymen will be examined and analyzed. The archetypes found in the material will be identified and their functions presented. The object of the paper is to try to gain a better understanding of how a belief in a nonexistent part of the body has been able to survive. According to my interpretation of Jung's theories, the hymen can be seen as a result of emotionally charged functions in the human psyche, which contributed to the creation of myth of the hymen.  Keywords: Analytical psychology, Archetypes, C. G Jung, Hymen, Virginity

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Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Communication, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 56-59).

This essay uses frame analysis to study changes in the descriptions of the hymen in Swedish printed press from 1989-2015. The study shows that the traditional story about the hymen has significant power in the dominant culture and affects the idea of what the hymen is and what is believed to be its functions. The study also showcases how our ideas about the hymen are socially constructed since the descriptions can shift widely but still be considered as the truth. The concept of the hymen has gone through a change over time, from a story of a hymen that breaks during first intercourse, to the hymen being a myth that doesn’t exist at all, to then emerge into the idea of the vaginal corona – another version of a hymen that is different from the traditional image. The study also shows that the traditional frame for describing the hymen does live on, and that the vaginal corona has not replaced the idea of the traditional hymen.

This paper is an interview study with 12 women between the ages of 17-88 from Bohuslän, Sweden and their thoughts about female virginity and the hymen. Today it has been proven that there exists no hymen that breaks at a woman’s first sexual intercourse. Nonetheless, the study shows that the myth of the hymen is still alive even though it is fading in the younger generations. All the women in the study have at some point in their lives believed there was a hymen but many have via education or media been informed that that’s not the case. Despite education, the hymen was still related to blood, pain, difficulties using feminine care products, or thoughts that something might rupture due to sport activities, like horse riding. Based on the women’s reports, this paper interprets why female virginity has become something that is in need of surveillance and control. As understood from Lévi-Strauss’s theories on the kinship system, the woman becomes a gift unit through the ritual of marriage. The alleged presence of the intact hymen is the valorizing factor in said structure.      The semi-structured interviews were analyzed through a content analysis and interpreted by using the post-modernistic theoretical frameworks, with focus on the ideas of Michel Foucault. Further post-structuralist theories are applied to interpret how language and action create norms and truths. The results indicate that the belief in the existence of the hymen as an anatomical structure took hold in medical science and popular culture in line with the hypothesis that power creates knowledge. The results also show that knowledge is not constant: from being an established truth among the older participants in the study, to the youngest generation expressing that the hymen is something “old”. Simultaneously, all women expressed that the hymen and female virginity are connected to discipline and power asymmetries. The results show that the hymen, in this specific context can be seen as a social construction with the aim of maintaining unity and discipline.