Dear SweetCheer,

Most people agree that using tampons does not cause a woman to lose her virginity.

There are many different beliefs about what losing one's virginity means. Most people agree that women and men lose their virginity the first time they have penile-vaginal intercourse. Many people also believe that people who have sex with a person of the same sex can lose their virginity through oral or anal intercourse. Some also believe that people have to give consent to lose their virginity — that virgins who are raped, for example, do not lose their virginity.

But some people think about virginity in a different way. Some people believe that an intact hymen — the thin tissue that stretches across at least part of the opening of the vagina in most girls at birth — is proof of a woman's virginity. But most people do not believe this. They know that each girl is born with a hymen, but that they come in a variety of shapes and sizes — and some girls may appear to have no hymen at all.

Many people also know that it is possible for a woman's hymen to become stretched open during insertive masturbation or through non-sexual activities like playing sports, and they do not believe the condition of the hymen is an accurate definition of virginity.

Hymens have at least one opening that will allow menstrual flow out of the body. Tampons may stretch the hymen a little bit, but they don't usually stretch it open all the way.

Hope this information helps!

Take care,

teenwire.com^® Editors

This column is for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have a medical problem, please call toll-free 1-800-230-PLAN for an appointment with the Planned Parenthood health center nearest you.