American rapper T.I has let the world in on his strange parenting practice. The 39-year-old rapper said in a podcast interview that aired Tuesday that he goes to the gynecologist every year with his daughter to “check her hymen” and make sure it’s “still intact.”
In an interview with Nazanin Mandi and Nadia Moham on Ladies Like Us, T.I. talked about his parenting style, among other topics. When asked about whether he’s had the “sex talk” with his daughters, he pointed to his approach with his eldest daughter, 18-year-old Deyjah Harris, who’s in her first year of college.
Here’s what he said:
“Not only have we had the conversation — we have yearly trips to the gynecologist to check her hymen. Yes, I go with her. I put a sticky note on the door: ‘Gyno. Tomorrow. 9:30.’
So we’ll go and sit down and the doctor comes and talk, and the doctor’s maintaining a high level of professionalism. He’s like, ‘You know, sir, I have to, in order to share information’. I’m like, ‘Deyjah, they want you to sign this so we can share information. Is there anything you would not want me to know? See, Doc? Ain’t no problem.’
Also, he noted that he was informed the hymen can be broken in ways other than through sexual penetration… like bike riding, athletics, horseback riding, and just other forms of athletic physical activity.
So I say, ‘Look, Doc, she don’t ride no horses, she don’t ride no bike, she don’t play no sports. Just check the hymen, please, and give me back my results expeditiously.'”
Then he added, “I will say, as of her 18th birthday, her hymen is still intact.”
First of all…
Virginity testing, which often involves a doctor inspecting the hymen for tears or stretching, is widely considered an unnecessarily invasive practice that has no medical benefit.
A report from the National Institutes of Health found that these tests can have a deeply negative psychological impact on women and girls.
In a series of tweets denouncing T.I.’s comments, prominent OB/GYN Dr. Jennifer Gunter wrote, “The hymen is no virginity indicator, 50% of sexually active teens do not have a disrupted hymen.”
“The hymen means nothing physically and hymen exams are medically not a thing and are unnecessary,” she added. “And support a disgusting patriarchal trope.”
The World Health Organization has vehemently denounced virginity testing. They called it “a violation of the human rights of girls and women.”
“‘Virginity testing’ has no scientific or clinical basis,” the organization said in a statement. “There is no examination that can prove a girl or woman has had sex. And the appearance of girl’s or woman’s hymen cannot prove whether they have had sexual intercourse, or are sexually active or not.”
Besides the sheer falseness of the procedure, let’s unpack this mess…
Can we talk about how humiliating it must be for an 18-year-old girl to be subject to examinations of that nature? This is in line with the disgusting purity culture that the patriarchy tries to perpetuate to keep women bound.
If you want to pass off the excuse that T.I is just being a caring father, then why isn’t he also testing his sons? What right does he have to invade her privacy in the name of parenting when he does not keep the same energy for his sons?
It must be so hurtful for that poor girl to endure this level of misogyny from her own father. T.I is using his power as a father to invade his daughter’s privacy and keep her from living her life. And then imagine the ridicule that will befall her now that he has proudly announced to the world that he is a creep.
Whereas he was not restricted as a teenager and neither are his sons. In fact, he is the type of father that would allow his sons to explore their sexuality. In fact, he would even encourage it. The double standard is disgusting.
T.I has shown that he is not only a bad rapper but also a bad father. How shameful, creepy, and repulsive. I wonder what her mother has to say about this.