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There are a lot of things that we get wrong about our human anatomy,
我们对人体解剖学有诸多误解，
but the hymen may very well be the most misunderstood structure we've got.
但阴道瓣可能是我们误解最多的结构。
People think it's this thick barrier at the entrance of the vagina that's intact until it's broken by sex, making it a sign of virginity.
人们认为这是阴道入口处一个厚厚的屏障，性交会使其破损，使之成为处女的迹象。
But that... none of that's true. The hymen is actually a thin, elastic, membrane at the edge of the vagina's entrance,
但这些都不是真的。阴道瓣其实很薄且有弹性，是位于阴道入口边缘的膜，
and how it looks at any given point in a person's life has very little—if anything—to do with sex.
并且它在人生某时段的样子和性并无关系。
The hymen exists because of how the vagina forms.
阴道瓣的存在和阴道形成有关。
During fetal development, it starts as a tube of solid tissue between the outside of the body
在胎儿发育时期，它始于身体外部之间的一管固体组织
and the organ that will essentially become the uterus.
并且这个器官将最终成为子宫。
Over time, the inside of this tube just disintegrates to make the reproductive tract.
随着时间的推移，这个管子的内部会分解形成生殖道。
But it usually doesn't completely hollow out—a thin membrane tends to remain on the outer end of the tube. And that's the hymen.
但它通常不会完全掏空—一层薄膜会留在管子的外端。这就是阴道瓣。
Within a few days of birth, this membrane usually develops one or more openings in it, the exact size and shape of which can differ.
在出生后的几天内，这层膜通常会形成一个或多个开口，其确切的大小和形状可能有所不同。
Often, though, the hymen just ends up a rim of tissue that only partially covers the vaginal opening.
虽然通常阴道瓣最后形成一圈组织，仅部分覆盖住阴道口。
Some people are even born without a hymen altogether, which doesn't seem to be a problem because as far as anyone can tell,
一些人甚至一出生就没有阴道瓣，这似乎并不是什么问题，因为大家都知道，
the hymen has no biological purpose. In fact, having a completely intact or imperforate hymen can be a bit of a problem,
阴道瓣是没有任何生物用途的。事实上，完整或没有孔的阴道瓣才有些问题，
because when puberty rolls around, it doesn't let menstrual fluids out.
因为当青春期来临的时候，月经会流不出来。
Luckily, it's rare—imperforate hymens are estimated to occur in only 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 10,000 people with vaginas.
幸运的是，这种情况很罕见—没有孔的阴道瓣概率是千分之一到万分之一。
Not only do hymens generally have holes in them from infancy,
阴道瓣不仅从婴儿时期就有孔，
but there's also nothing else about them that can be used to reliably indicate sexual activity.
而且它们也不能暗示有无性行为。
For one thing, the tissue is fairly elastic in adults, so penetration doesn't necessarily cause any lasting changes.
首先，成人的这个组织是相当有弹性的，所以穿透不一定会导致任何持久的变化。
For example, in one study from 2004, there was no difference in hymen size between people who'd had intercourse and those who didn't.
例如，在2004年的一项研究中，在有或无性行为的人群中，她们的阴道瓣大小没有区别。
In fact, more than half of participants who'd had intercourse showed no visible changes to the tissue that might indicate sexual activity,
事实上，在超过一半的有性行为参与者中，她们体内可能表明性行为的组织（就像流泪后形成的泪沟）
like notches from healed tears. Meanwhile, some of people who didn't have sex did have those notches—
并没有明显的变化。同时，没有性行为的一些人，她们的组织上却留有凹痕—
which is probably because the hymens can look different for all sorts of reasons unrelated to intercourse.
这可能是因为阴道瓣会由于各种与性行为无关的原因而有所不同。
Vigorous exercise or even inserting a tampon might stretch the tissue or cause small tears, for example.
例如，剧烈运动或甚至插入卫生棉条都可能会拉伸组织或导致小撕裂。
And contrary to most hymen myths, even if the tissue is torn or ruptured somehow,
与大多数阴道瓣谬见相反，即使这个组织以某种方式被撕裂或破裂，
there often isn't a significant amount of bleeding because the hymen has relatively few blood vessels.
通常也不会有大量的出血，因为阴道瓣的血管数量相对较少。
So there's basically nothing right about the idea that people will bleed when they first have vaginal intercourse because their hymens are being broken.
所以关于第一次性行为会导致阴道瓣破裂而流血的说法，根本就是错误的。
In fact, several studies have documented that bleeding is not routinely observed after a person's first time.
事实上，几项研究已经证明，第一次后出血并不常见。
So while it's an interesting artifact of development,
虽然这是一个有趣的发展产物，
there are lots of reasons why the hymen doesn't tell you anything about a person. Thanks for asking!
但关于为什么阴道瓣不能代表ta是一个怎样的人的原因有很多个。感谢提问！
And a special thank you to our patrons on Patreon,
特别感谢Patreon的赞助人，
who help us keep making educational videos like this one, that sponsors... might not be as interested in.
他们帮助我们继续制作这样有教育意义的视频，这些赞助商可能不会感兴趣的视频。
If you liked learning the truth about this misunderstood body part, I bet you'll love our episode on enduring myths about human reproduction.
如果你想知道关于这个被误解的身体部位的真相，我敢打赌你会喜欢我们关于人类生殖的不朽谬见的那一集。
And if you learn something new, tell us in the comments!
如果你学到了新知识，请在评论告知！
