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stimulating her vagina but is moving inside her in a way that also moves her urethra and clitoris (even if the penis does not touch these parts directly). This may also explain, at least in part, why some women feel as though they have to urinate when they are in the midst of intercourse or approaching orgasm. The penis may be indirectly stimulating the urethra (and maybe the bladder, too), as well as the nerves in these areas. For a more detailed discussion of orgasm and the nerve pathways, we recommend reading The Science of Orgasm . 22
    THE VAG IN ALL
    Although the vaginal entrance is often technically called the “introitus” in medical circles, another name for it and the area just around it is the “vestibule”—coincidentally, this is also the name for the entrance to a church. In fact, some people have likened churches to vulvas in their design and in their ability to give birth to new life.
    The Hymen
    The vaginal opening of most girls’ bodies is partially covered with a thin layer of tissue called the hymen, which—although thin—is filled with blood vessels. It is important to note that the hymen does not fully cover the vaginal opening. If it did, a girl’s vagina would not be able to easily self-clean through the release of vaginal discharge. When a healthcare provider notices that a girl’s hymen completely covers her vaginal opening, he or she may wait to see if it resolves later during childhood or around the time of puberty. If it does not, a healthcare provider will often perform a procedure to create an opening so that when a woman menstruates, the blood and tissue have a way to leave the body. Otherwise, the blood can back up and create feelings of pain and pressure in a woman’s abdominal or pelvic area.
    Some girls are not born with a hymen or are born with only a small amount of hymen tissue. Even girls who are born with a hymen may find that it wears away or tears during non-sexual activities during childhood or adolescence. A young woman may, without realizing it, tear her hymen while using tampons or during vaginal fingering that occurs as part of masturbation or sex play with a partner. As such, not all women notice vaginal bleeding when they first experience vaginal penetration or intercourse. Unfortunately, some people mistakenly believe that if a woman does not bleed when she first has intercourse that she must not truly have been a virgin. This is problematic for many reasons including those related to sexual double standards that suggest that women should be virgins until they get married but that men don’t have to be virgins at the time of marriage. Also, women in some cultures are pressured to “prove” their virginity, whereas men typically are not pressured to “prove” theirs, probably because there is no way to “prove” their virginity by looking at their penis or scrotum. If only more people realized that there is no sure way to “prove” women’s virginity either!
    Even women who are not waiting to have sex until they are married sometimes feel confused if they have intercourse and don’t notice any blood. We have heard from women who wonder what it means when they don’t bleed the first time they have sex. They may ask, for example, if they are still virgins if they have had sex but didn’t bleed from it. Or they may ask if something is physically wrong with them if they did not bleed when they first had inter-course. A lack of bleeding at first sex does not necessarily mean that there is anything wrong with a woman or her body; vulvas and vaginas vary, just as women do, and not all women bleed when they first have sex, particularly if the hymen has been worn away from other activities.
    Recently, in some countries, a procedure called a hymenoplasty has increased in popularity. It involves surgically placing new tissue over part of a woman’s vaginal opening as if it were a hymen. A woman might choose to have this procedure in an effort to try and “prove”