Cosmetic surgery for hymen restoration is becoming more and more popular in European cities where otherwise Westernized, jeans-wearing young Muslim women face the need to become "virgins" before getting married. Some doctors in European cities with larger Muslim populations such as Paris and Frankfurt find they are doing two to four of these operations a week.

The procedure, called a hymenoplasty, is a restoration of the internal tissue that usually "breaks" during a woman’s first sexual encounter. Traditionally in Muslim culture, the virginity of the bride is of great importance to the groom and the groom’s family.

"In my culture, not to be a virgin is to be dirt," a young European Muslim student told The New York Times.

At a time when women in America are debating whether the failure of Hillary Clinton is based on some lingering glass ceiling, it is amazing to hear how complex the issues of love and sex are in cultures so different from ours.