The “Whatever You Like” rapper has said he takes his 18-year-old daughter Deyjah Harris to a gynaecological exam each year, for her hymen (and therefore virginity) to be checked.
But the World Health Organisation (WHO) says the practice is “humiliating and traumatic”.
According to him, he has been having sex education conversation with his daughter and by making sure she hasn't lost her virginity, he checks her hymen annually.
“Not only have we had the conversation, we have yearly trips to the gynaecologist to check her hymen. Yes, I go with her … I will say, as of her 18th birthday, her hymen is still intact,” he revealed this ‘Ladies Like Us’ podcast.
He acknowledged a woman’s hymen can be broken outside of sexual activity, but countered by saying: “So then they come and say, ‘Well, I just want you to know that there are other ways besides sex that the hymen can be broken 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.’”
Among hundreds of disgusted tweets reacting to the rapper’s comments, the sexual health non-profit organisation Planned Parenthood tweeted: “Idk who needs to hear this but virginity is a made-up social construct, and it has absolutely nothing to do with your hymen … Some people think you can tell if someone’s had sex before if their hymen is stretched open. But that’s not the case.”
T.I. and Harris have not commented since the podcast was released, though Harris has liked tweets condemning her father, including one that described his behaviour as “disgusting, possessive and controlling”.