What is a hymen?

It's the border: It's where the vagina meets the vulva, and can be seen by girls and teens using a mirror. Young women may be judged by their happiness, their friendliness, and many other wonderful traits, but not by the condition of their hymens. It makes absolutely no difference whether a person has a big hymen, little hymen, broken hymen, or no hymen at all, as long as mucus or menstrual blood can flow through.

Door with opening: The hymen is usually a thin layer of tissue with a central window/opening. It is like a door to the vagina with an opening to let menstrual flow exit. A few women are born without one or loose it in non-sexual events in childhood.

Between in / outside: Hymen is the border between a vagina's inside and the outside vulva. Only in cases of alleged sexual assault upon girls and women do we physicians engage in the careful examination of hymens, collecting evidence of physical damage to be used later in courts of law. In normal everyday life, people should not be "checking hymens" nor thinking about whether they are big, small, broken, or not broken.