Snapped Shot

It doesn't matter how many men you've [self-censored], its all about the hymen. For as little as $2,900, Muslim women are becoming virgins - again.

The surgery in the private clinic off the Champs-Élysées involved one semicircular cut, 10 self-dissolving stitches and a discounted fee of $2,900.

But for the patient, a 23-year-old French student of Moroccan descent from Montpellier, the 30-minute procedure represented the key to a new life: the illusion of virginity.

Like an increasing number of other Muslim women in Europe, she had a "hymenoplasty," a restoration of her hymen, the thin vaginal membrane that normally breaks during the first act of intercourse.

"In my culture, not to be a virgin is to be dirt," said the student, perched on a hospital bed as she awaited surgery Thursday. "Right now, virginity is more important to me than life."

[...]

"If you're a Muslim woman growing up in more open societies in Europe, you can easily end up having sex before marriage," said Hicham Mouallem, a doctor in London who performs the surgery. "So if you're looking to marry a Muslim and don't want to have problems, you'll try to recapture your virginity."

Ah, yes, the suffering of Muslim women living in Western society... They go their entire lives living modestly, protecting her honour when suddenly - without warning! - they're having sex! How can a good Muslim woman meet a nice Muslim man with all the tempting kuffar living in the neighborhood? Damn infidels!

But thanks to modern technology that Muhammad never condemned so it must be okay, their true honour - and the honour of their family - can be concealed restored.