I'm 20 years old, and the other day, I went to the gynecologist to have my first pelvic exam. Upon learning that I was a virgin, my gyn told me that she would be unable to perform an internal exam on me. Needless to say, I was kind of shocked, but later, I called a friend, and she told me that she had had the same experience. In her case, the nurse practitioner told her that performing an internal exam would be like her "paying to take away her virginity."

Now I'm not American, and in my culture, there is still a strong association between the hymen and virginity. What I wanted to know was if American gynecologists would balk at the idea of performing an internal examination on a virgin. Also, isn't it important to get a Pap smear done even if you aren't sexually active and probably haven't contracted HPV?