Planned Parenthood Has Beef With T.I. For Saying He Checks On His Daughter’s Virginity

T.I.’s recent comments saying that he takes his daughter to regular appointments to confirm her virginity by checking her hymen caused a scandal and a furious debate over sexual health, misogyny, and questionable parenting tactics yesterday and that debate has continued to rage on, pulling in no less an authority than Planned Parenthood. The nonprofit responded with a Twitter thread refuting T.I.’s beliefs and sharing information about sexual health while calling virginity a “social construct.”

“Some people think you can tell if someone’s had sex before if their hymen is stretched open,” the thread noted, before setting the record straight. “But that’s not the case. Say it with us: YOU CAN’T TELL IF SOMEONE’S HAD SEX BY THE WAY THEIR HYMEN LOOKS OR FEELS.” According to The Independent, other sexual health experts, including several gynecologists, weighed in as well to bolster the Planned Parenthood account’s thread. One, Dr. Jen Gunter, pointed out that. “The hymen is no virginity indicator, 50 per cent of sexually active teens do not have a disrupted hymen. The hymen is often very flexible. The hymen means nothing physically and hymen exams are medically not a thing and are unnecessary. And support a disgusting patriarchal trope.”

T.I., for his part, seems to have been notified that women’s hymens can be disrupted by other rigorous physical activities as well, but maintained his stubborn position in the podcast interview that sparked the whole kerfuffle. “She don’t ride no horses, she don’t ride no bike, she don’t play no sports,” he said. “Just check the hymen, please, and give me back my results expeditiously.” Hopefully, he’s seen some of these informational threads and learned something that can help him change his antiquated views.