| Summary: | 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.
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