Editing Hymen (section)

==Womb fury==
In the 16th and 17th centuries, medical researchers mistakenly saw the presence or absence of the hymen as founding evidence of physical diseases such as "womb-fury", i.e., [[female hysteria|(female) hysteria]]. If not cured, womb-fury would, according to doctors practicing at the time, result in death.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Berrios | first1 = GE | last2 = Rivière | first2 = L | year = 2006 | title = Madness from the womb | journal = History of Psychiatry | volume = 17 | issue = 66 Pt 2 | pages = 223–35 | doi=10.1177/0957154x06065699| pmid = 17146991 | s2cid = 148179899 | url = https://hal.science/hal-00570861 }}</ref><ref>The linkage between the hymen and social elements of control has been taken up in Marie Loughlin's book [https://archive.org/details/hymeneuticsinter00loug/page/43 <!-- quote="womb fury" hymen. --> Hymeneutics: Interpreting Virginity on the Early Modern Stage] published in 1997</ref>
<!--==Modern perspective==In late 2005, Monica Christiansson, former maternity ward nurse and Carola Eriksson, a PhD student at [[Umeå University]] announced that according to studies of medical literature and practical experience, the hymen should be considered a social and cultural myth, based on deeply rooted stereotypes of women's roles in sexual relations with men. Christiansson and Eriksson support their claims by pointing out that there are no accurate medical descriptions of what a hymen actually consists of. Statistics presented by the two state that fewer than 30% of women who have gone through puberty and have consensual intercourse bleed the first time. Christiansson has expressed an opinion that the use of the term "hymen" should be discontinued and that it should be considered an integral part of the vaginal opening.<ref>[http://na.se/artikel.asp?intId=929711 Nerikes Allehanda's article on Christiansson's and Eriksson's research] {{sv icon}}</ref>-->