Like a virgin?: Hymen restoration operations in contemporary China
Steinmüller, H.
& Tan, T.
(2015).
Like a virgin?: Hymen restoration operations in contemporary China.
Anthropology Today,
31(2), 15-18.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.12165
& Tan, T.
(2015).
Like a virgin?: Hymen restoration operations in contemporary China.
Anthropology Today,
31(2), 15-18.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.12165
In this article, the authors use the example of hymen repair surgeries to discuss the reconfigurations of patriarchal practices in the People's Republic of China. Following a brief overview of concepts of virginity and the importance of the hymen in China, they describe the spread of hymen restorations in the reform era. These surgeries link up traditionalist and ‘patriarchal’ practices and relationships with particular expressions of sexual liberalism in contemporary China.