V is for Virginity Confirmation

In a world filled with gendered double standards, one that is represented across many cultures is a fixation on female virginity. Fiction certainly showcases a wide variety of tropes on the subject, one in particular causes real-life problems for women worldwide. Namely, the assumption that virginity is synonymous with an intact hymen, and that a true virgin will always bleed the first time she has (heterosexual) intercourse.

[Note: Mildly NSFW due to reproductive biology and sex discussion. Click through for full post]A number of countries and cultures still use 'virginity tests' to determine if a woman is fit for marriage. If her hymen is not intact, she is considered soiled, which can have major social consequences. So high are the stakes that women often seek surgery (illegal in some countries, but performed anyway) to 'reconstruct' their hymens so that their lady parts will meet expectations, including inserting a packet of fake blood. 
Setting aside the ethics of demanding that a woman remain a virgin until marriage, the obsession with the hymen and bleeding is absurd. Depending on the person, the hymen may be nearly absent, already broken from athletic activities, or simply supple enough to stretch instead of tearing the first time around.

This isn't so much aimed at contemporary writers as an illustration of how deeply a storytelling prop can become ingrained in social expectations.