that the hymen is a proof of virginity.

妮娜．布羅克： 成長過程中，

But it turns out, we were wrong.

我們都相信處女膜是處女的證據。

What we discovered

但結果是我們都錯了。

is that the popular story we're told about female virginity

我們發現

is based on two anatomical myths.

我們常聽到的那個 關於女性貞操的故事，

The truth has been known in medical communities for over 100 years,

其實是基於兩個解剖學上的迷思。

yet somehow these two myths continue to make life difficult

醫學界早在一百多年前 就知道了這個真相，

for women around the world.

然而，這兩個迷思仍然持續

Ellen Støkken Dahl: The first myth is about blood.

給全世界的女人帶來苦日子。

It tells us that the hymen breaks and bleeds

艾倫．斯托肯．達爾： 第一個迷思和血有關。

the first time a woman has vaginal sex.

這個迷思是說，在女性 初次做陰道性交時，

In other words, if there is no blood on the sheets afterwards,

處女膜會破裂並流血。

then the woman was simply not a virgin.

換言之，如果事後床單上沒有血，

The second myth is a logical consequence of the first.

那麼這個女人就不是處女。

Since the hymen is thought to break and bleed,

第二個迷思，是第一個 迷思邏輯推論後的結果。

people also believe that it actually disappears

既然處女膜被認為會破裂且流血，

or is in some way radically altered during a woman's first intercourse.

人們也相信它會消失，

If that were true,

或是在女人第一次性交之後， 以某種方式徹底改變。

one would easily be able to determine if a woman is a virgin or not

如果那是真的，

by examining her genitals,

判別一個女人是不是處女就很容易，

by doing a virginity check.

只要檢驗她的生殖器，

NDB: So that's our two myths:

做個處女檢查即可。

virgins bleed,

妮：就是這兩個迷思：

and hymens are lost forever.

處女會流血，

Now, this may sound like a minor issue to you.

以及處女膜會永遠失去。

Why should you care

你可能會覺得這聽起來只是件小事。

about an obscure little skin fold on the female body?

你為什麼要在乎

But the truth is, this is about so much more

在女性身體裡面的一片小小皮膚？

than an anatomical misunderstanding.

但實際上，它不僅僅只是

The myths about the hymen have lived on for centuries

解剖學上的誤解。

because they have cultural significance.

關於處女膜的迷思 已經流傳了數世紀，

They have been used as a powerful tool

因為它們具有文化上的重要意義。

in the effort to control women's sexuality

幾乎在每種文化、宗教及歷史年代中

in about every culture, religion and historical decade.

它們都被當成

Women are still mistrusted,

控制女性性行為的強大工具。

shamed,

女人仍然不被信任，

harmed

感到羞愧，

and, in the worst cases, subjected to honor killings

被傷害，

if they don't bleed on their wedding night.

在最糟的情況下， 還會遭受到「榮譽處決」，

Other women are forced through degrading virginity checks,

只因為她們在新婚之夜沒有流血。

simply to obtain a job,

其他女人被迫接受 很丟臉的處女檢查，

to save their reputation

只為了得到一份工作，

or to get married.

為了拯救她們的名聲，

ESD: Like in Indonesia,

或為了結婚。

where women are systematically examined to enter military service.

艾：就像在印尼，

After the Egyptian uprisings in 2011,

女人在進入軍隊服役時 要通過有系統的檢驗。

a group of female protesters were forced to undergo virginity checks

在 2011 年埃及暴動之後，

by their military.

一群女性抗議者被她們的軍隊

In Oslo, doctors are examining the hymens of young girls

強迫執行處女檢查。

to reassure parents that their children are not ruined.

在奧斯陸，醫生會 檢驗年輕女孩的處女膜

And sadly, the list goes on.

來向她們的父母保證 他們的女兒沒有被誘姦。

Women are so afraid not to live up to the myths about the hymen

讓人遺憾的，還不只這些。

that they choose to use different virginity quick fixes

女人很害怕沒有符合 大眾對處女膜迷思的期待，

to assure a bleeding.

以致於她們選擇用不同的 快速處女膜修復方式

That could be plastic surgery,

來確保會流血。

known as "revirgination,"

可能是透過整形外科，

it could be vials of blood poured on the sheets after sex

即所謂的「再造處女」，

or fake hymens bought online,

也可能是在性行為後 將一小瓶血倒在床單上，

complete with theater blood

或是網購假的處女膜，

and a promise to "kiss your deep, dark secret goodbye."

再配上道具血漿，

NDB: By telling girls that no deed can be kept secret,

就能得到一個「跟你內心深處 隱藏的秘密吻別」的保證。

that their bodies will reveal them no matter what,

妮：告訴女孩們 沒有任何行為是可以隱瞞的，

we have endowed them with fear.

她們的身體無論如何都會洩密，

Girls are afraid of ruining themselves,

我們用這方式來讓她們感到恐懼。

either through sport,

女孩害怕自己會破處，

play,

不論是在運動時、

tampon use

玩樂時、

or a sexual activity.

用衛生棉條時，

We have curtailed their opportunities and their freedoms.

或有性行為時。

It's time we put an end to the virginity fraud.

我們縮減了她們的機會和自由。

It's time we break the myths about the hymen

該是讓處女騙局畫上句點的時候了。

once and for all.

該是一勞永逸打破 處女膜迷思的時候了。

ESD: We are medical students,

艾：我們是醫學系學生、

sexual health workers

性保健工作者，

and the authors of "The Wonder Down Under."

以及《下面的驚奇》的作者。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

That's a popular science book about the female genitals.

那是本熱門的科學書籍， 談的是女性生殖器。

And in our experience, people seem to believe

根據我們的經驗，人們似乎相信

that the hymen is some kind of a seal covering the vaginal opening.

處女膜似乎是一種封膜， 蓋住了陰道的開口。

In Norwegian, it is even called "the virgin membrane."

在挪威語中，它被稱為處女「膜」，

And with this, we picture something fragile,

因為這個詞，我們把它想成是脆弱、

something easily destructible,

很容易受損、

something you can rip through,

可以穿透的東西，

perhaps like a sheet of plastic wrapping.

也許就像一片塑膠紙。

You may have wondered why we brought a hula hoop onstage today.

各位可能很納悶，我們今天 為何要帶呼啦圈上台。

We'll show you.

讓我們來展示一下。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Now, it is very hard to hide

好，非常難隱藏這個呼啦圈

that something has happened to this hoop, right?

剛剛發生了什麼事，對吧？

It is different before and after I punched it.

在我打它之前和之後，它是不同的。

The seal is broken,

封膜破了，

and unless we change the plastic,

除非我們換掉這張塑膠膜，

it won't get back to its intact state.

不然它不會回到原本完好的狀態。

So if we wanted to do a virginity check on this hoop right here,

所以，如果我們想在這裡 對這個呼啦圈做處女檢查，

right now,

現在就做，

that would be very easy.

會非常容易。

It's easy to say that this hoop is not a virgin anymore.

很容易判斷說，這個 呼啦圈已經不是處女了。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

NDB: But the hymen is nothing like a piece of plastic

妮：但處女膜並不像是

you can wrap around your food,

用來包覆食物的那種保鮮膜，

or a seal.

也不是封膜。

In fact ...

事實上……

it's more like this --

它比較像這個──

a scrunchie or a rubber band.

髮圈或橡皮圈。

The hymen is a rim of tissue at the outer opening of the vagina.

處女膜是陰道外開口的環狀組織。

And usually, it has a doughnut or a half-moon shape

通常，它的形狀像甜甜圈或半月形，

with a large, central hole.

中間有個很大的洞。

But this varies a lot,

但形狀因人而異，

and sometimes hymens can have fringes,

有時處女膜會有流蘇邊，

it can have several holes,

它可能會有很多洞，

or it can consist of lobes.

或它也可能有垂葉。

In other words, hymens naturally vary a lot in looks,

換言之，處女膜本來 在外觀上就很多樣化，

and that is what makes it so hard to do a virginity check.

那就是為什麼處女檢查是很困難的。

ESD: Now that we know a bit more about the hymen's anatomy,

艾：現在我們已經對處女膜的 解剖學瞭解多一點了，

it's time to get back to our two myths:

該回到我們的兩個迷思了：

virgins bleed,

處女會流血，

hymens are lost forever.

處女膜一去永不復返。

But the hymen doesn't have to break at all.

但處女膜完全不需要破裂。

The hymen is like a scrunchie in function as well as in looks.

處女膜在功能上 及外觀上都很像髮圈。

And you can stretch a scrunchie, right?

髮圈是可以伸縮的，對吧？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

You can stretch a hymen, too.

處女膜也可以伸縮。

In fact, it's very elastic.

事實上，它很有彈性。

And for a lot of women,

很多女人的處女膜

the hymen will be elastic enough to handle a vaginal intercourse

彈性好到可以讓她們 在做陰道性交時，

without sustaining any damage.

處女膜仍絲毫未損。

For other women, the hymen may tear a bit to make room for the penis,

而其他女人的處女膜，因為需要 容納陰莖的空間而會稍稍撕裂開，

but that won't make it disappear.

但這樣也不會讓處女膜消失。

But it may look a bit different from before.

它可能會和以前看起來有點不同。

It naturally follows that you can't examine the hymen

很自然的結果就是， 你無法用檢驗處女膜的方式

to check for virginity status.

來確認一個人是否是處女。

This was noted over 100 years ago in 1906

這點早在一百年前 就被注意到了，在 1906 年，

by the Norwegian doctor Marie Jeancet.

挪威醫生瑪莉 ‧ 蕭賽茲

She examined a middle-aged sex worker

檢驗了一位中年的性工作者，

and concluded that her genitalia were reminiscent of a teenage virgin.

結論是她的生殖器 就像是十幾歲的處女。

But that makes sense, right?

但，那是合理的，對吧？

Because if her hymen was never damaged during sex,

因為，如果她的處女膜 在性交時都沒有受損，

then what were we expecting to see?

我們會預期看到什麼？

ESD: Since hymens come in every shape and form,

艾：因為處女膜有各種形狀和形式，

it is difficult to know

所以很難知道

if a dent or a fold in it is there because of previous damage

它上面的一個凹痕或摺痕 是先前受損造成的，

or if it's just a normal anatomical variant.

或者只是解剖學上的正常差異。

The absurdity of virgin testing

處女測驗有多荒謬，

is illustrated in a study done on 36 pregnant teenagers.

在一篇對 36 位懷孕青少女 所做的研究中就有描述到。

When doctors examined their hymens,

當醫生檢查她們的處女膜時，

they could only find clear signs of penetration

只有在 36 人中的 2 人身上

in two out of the 36 girls.

找到明顯的插入徵象。

So unless you believe in 34 cases of virgin births --

除非你相信其他 34 個個案 都是處女懷孕──

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

we must all agree

不然我們都應該同意，

that also our second myth has taken a vital blow.

第二個迷思已經不堪一擊。

You simply cannot look a woman between her legs

本來就不可能經由 查看女人的兩腿之間，

and read her sexual story.

來獲知她的性愛史。

NDB: Like most myths, the myths about the hymen are untrue.

妮：和大部分迷思一樣， 關於處女膜的迷思也不是真的。

There is no virgin seal that magically disappears after sex,

並沒有一個處女封膜 會在性交之後神奇地消失，

and half of virgins can easily have sex without bleeding.

且可能有一半的處女 在性交之後都不會流血。

We wish we could say that by removing these myths,

我們希望說將這些迷思除去之後，

everything would be OK,

一切就會沒事了，

that shame, harm and honor killings would all just disappear.

羞恥、傷害以及榮譽處決 就通通會消失。

But of course, it's not that simple.

但，當然沒那麼簡單。

Sexual oppression of women comes from something much deeper

女性所遭受的性壓迫 其實是來自更深層的地方，

than a simple anatomical misunderstanding about the properties of the hymen.

不僅只是因為對處女膜的特性 單純有著解剖學上的誤解。

It's a question of cultural and religious control of women's sexuality.

這是個從文化和宗教上 控制女人性行為的問題。

And that is much harder to change.

要改變這一點相當困難。

But we must try.

但我們必須要嘗試。

ESD: As medical professionals, this is our contribution.

艾：身為醫學專業人士， 這是我們的貢獻。

We want every girl, parent and [future] husband to know

我們想讓每一個女孩、父母 以及未來的丈夫知道

what the hymen is and how it works.

處女膜是什麼以及它如何運作。

We want them to know

我們想讓他們知道，

that the hymen can't be used as a proof of virginity.

處女膜不能作為是否為處女的證據。

And that way, we can remove one of the most powerful tools

如此一來，我們就能除掉 現今用來控制年輕女性

used to control young women today.

最強大的工具之一。

After telling you this,

在告訴各位這些資訊之後，

you may wonder what the alternative is,

各位可能想知道有什麼替代方案？

for if we cannot use the hymen as a proof of virginity for women,

如果我們無法用處女膜 作為辨別處女的證據，

then what should we use?

那要用什麼？

We opt for using nothing.

我們選擇什麼都不用。

(Cheering)

（歡呼）

If you --

如果你──

(Applause)

（掌聲）

If you really want to know if a woman is a virgin or not,

如果你真的想要知道 一位女子是否是處女，

ask her.

直接問她。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But how she answers that question is her choice.

但她要如何回答，是她的選擇。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）