His anecdotes are enlightening (the girls exclaim with envy when told of an unmarried friend with an "elastic hymen" that seemingly never breaks) and, along the way, he conveys the sense and smell of Cairo, its hustle and humour, its near permanent state of traffic gridlock.
In virgins the vaginal orifice is covered by a membranous fold of skin known as the hymen; after sexual intercourse only fragments of the hymen remain along the margins of the opening.
In immature females, the uterus may be separated from the cloaca by a hymen, or membrane.
Dyspareunia may be caused by inflammation or infection of the vagina, vaginismus (voluntary or involuntary contraction of the lower vaginal muscles), remnants of the hymen, insufficient lubrication of the vagina, infection, endometriosis, tumours, or other pathologic conditions (including those of the anus such as hemorrhoids or in the urinary tract).
In the young of many species a membrane, the hymen, closes the vaginal opening.
In guinea pigs the hymen reseals the opening after each reproductive period.
In most virgins, the external opening to the vagina is partially closed by a thin fold of tissue known as the hymen.
Historically it was believed that a membrane across the opening of the vagina, called the hymen, is broken the first time a woman has sex but it can also be ruptured by disease, injury or physical exercise.
Women have also been pressured to "restore their virginity" after rape, in a procedure under local anaesthetic to "repair" the hymen using dissolvable stitches.
His later plays include Hyménée (1941; "Hymen") and Père (1943; "Father").
"Notice that there is the appearance of complete hymen rupture from the top to the base," he wrote.
