Designer Vaginas - An Alarming New Trend
By Catherine R
The number of women getting female genital cosmetic surgery is still relatively small but it is a rising trend. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons supply figures from 2006 which show that 1000 such operations happened in the United States in that year - but this figure was up 30 % from the previous year and it seems to be a trend which is growing exponentially. The same is true in the U.K.
According to Dr. Scott Mosser, a San Francisco based plastic surgeon, labiaplasty is the most researched cosmetic surgery on the Internet.
You may be wondering what these female genital cosmetic procedures are. Here is a basic outline:
Labiaplasty
A labiaplasty is the surgical reduction and beautification of the labia. It is supposedly for women who have a problem with large labia or asymmetrical labia. The labia minora and labia majora are reduced in size and given a better and more even outward appearance.
Vaginoplasty or Vaginal Rejuvenation
This is a surgical procedure to tighten the vagina. It is useful for women who have had several children and can apparently enhance the sensitivity of the vagina.
Hoodectomy
A hoodectomy which is also known as a clitoral unhooding promises women heightened sensation, arousal and increased sexual satisfaction.
These procedures may be performed together. They are generally performed under local anesthetic. The procedure takes about an hour and the patient is normally able to walk out after about 15 minutes recovery time. The wound must be kept clean and the patient is advised to take it easy for the first week and to avoid sex for six weeks. There are plastic surgeons with websites that outline these procedures in detail for anyone who is interested. Not surprisingly they don't make a big thing of the pain but you can be sure these little operations will hurt.
Just researching and writing about these procedures has left me feeling decidedly queasy and I find that my legs are firmly clenched together. So why the rising trend?
It seems that there are many women who are unhappy with the appearance of their genitals. The main reasons given for having a labiaplasty are physical discomfort during sports or intercourse and unhappiness with the physical appearance of the labia which is usually considered to be too long or discolored or both. The trend for Brazilian waxing is also putting more focus on the area. Apparently women would like their genitals to look neat, organised and clean. And young.
It is generally accepted that pornography has a major influence on what women believe is desirable. Because there is a real lack of information about the variations in women's genitals - the pornographic ideal is then held to be the norm. These pornographic 'ideal' Brazilian - waxed vulvas may have been surgically altered themselves and in any case are hardly representative of the wide variety of female genitalia. With breasts or noses which are clearly on display there is a far greater understanding of the variations from one body to the next.
Another point to note is that cosmetic surgery generally has become normalized. Television shows like 'Dr 90210' and 'Extreme Makeover' have helped to demystify cosmetic surgery and are probably helping to create a demand for it. These procedures are being written about in women's magazines and further normalized. Talk about female genital cosmetic surgery is then going to get women questioning whether their genitals are normal or not. According to an article in Time magazine, the youth sex-education website, Scarleteen.com, has dozens of teenage girls commiserating about their labia. "i REALLY h8 mine! They hang really REALLY low and r SO long!" reads one comment.
Dr Virginia Braun, a psychologist from the University of Auckland, is radically opposed to female genital cosmetic surgery. She wonders when women's labias got so big they couldn't walk around with them anymore. She sees that these cosmetic procedures are producing a generic model of female genitalia which then pathologizes female genital diversity.
The New View Campaign is a New York based organization that is "opposed to the growth of the unregulated and unmonitored genital cosmetic surgery industry that is medicalizing women's sexuality and creating new risks, norms and insecurities." Their website posts information about this new trend which it considers to be female genital mutilation. This should certainly be read by anyone considering these procedures. They argue for more research and more regulation. After all most plastic surgeons have not had training in this area.
It would seem that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists are in agreement as they issued a committee opinion warning that women may experience reduced sexual pleasure, chronic pain, scarring and obstetric risk.
There are many women who claim to be thrilled with the results of their labiaplasy surgery. The many websites of plastic surgeons performing these surgeries have comments from happy customers. It is also alarming to notice on web forums that there is much discussion around how young is too young to have this procedure done. These are mothers wondering how old their teenage daughters should be before they can take them for surgery.
An alarming study published in 2007 in the Annals of Plastic Surgery found that ten years after women get breast implants they are nearly three times as likely to commit suicide as other women. Genital surgery is of an even more intimate nature and this must surely make the case for further research even more compelling.
This seems to me to be a worrying trend. I would be interested to hear what other people think about this.
"
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Comments
CabinGirl - how right you are. Jean H - this hub is a HubMob hub - a weekly topic is assigned - tis plastic surgery this week. It seems pretty sad to me that this is becoming a trend. Will it make for happiness - I doubt it.
Is there anywhere you don't go Catherine R! I like the way you write about it all, with objectivity but that tiny subjective comment at the end. I guess most women are going "Ouch!!" Ain't nuttin wrong with what God gave you gals. Stay with it.
Great hub. I've heard about "vagina rejuvenation". I read somewhere that it gives one the feeling of being a "virgin" again. Wonder if that is true =).
Hmm - I suspect that this is why it is sometimes performed.
I think so, too =).
Wow this was an eye-opener for me as well, alarming is the right word! Agree with Mustard above, ain't nothing wrong...
LOL - I misread this as DISATER Vaginas, which could be true either before or after surgery.
I don't like to sound negative, but it just seems so vain and useless to me, besides being dangerous. I wish women could just like themselves fine the way we are and not worry too much about our sex appeal or whatever. Thanks for another great hub, Catherine. I didn't know this was going on really, until I read your hub. Always informative, keep them coming. Thank you.
Disaster - too true! Paradise you're not sounding negative to me - or to anyone else who has posted a comment here. Wonder if there are any people out there who support this trend. Lets here you....
I love reading your hubs! A year or so ago, I researched all different kinds of cosmetic surgery and tried to decide which kinds I needed. I ran across these terms and became more self conscious than I already was. After months of deliberation I settled on Lasik eye surgery, and PROZAC for the rest of my insecurities! LOL
Thanks janddplus4! So glad to hear you didn't go under the knife!
Good grief! This sounds like a very bad trend - and potentially socially dangerous in the same way as excessive weight loss.
From one man's point of view - don't do it! It's not necessary: whilst the "porn perfection" vagina may be nice to look at, the vast majority of men are quite happy with whatever they get :)
There's a really cheap way to "rejuvenate" a vagina (or better yet, keep it young from the start): walking and pelvic floor exercises.
Nicely written Catherine!
DaveHarris - good to get a male perspective on this one! Thank you for your very sensible advice. Of course pelvic floor exercises are the way to go - and so much cheaper!
This hub is useless without the pics! LOL
Believe me Misha I did give that one quite a lot of consideration! Nevertheless the pictures are out there - plenty of them!
Well. That rejuvenation doesn't sound do bad. :)
To have any of this done for the looks of the thing seems crazy to me. If a gal was that hung up about it she could always refuse any visuals. I don't think guys care about the looks of it much. I don't think looking at it is what they have in mind. (With a real woman—not on the internet, of course.)
I must say, you tackled a subject I have not seen addressed before and you've done it well.
Thanks James. You guys are confirming what I thought to be true!
Extremely well handled, Catherine! In India, hymenoplasty is such a roaring business for a lot of plastic surgeons and it's always saddened me why it's necessary for such hypocrisy to exist. I guess doing it for looks is almost as bad!
Love the male perspective in the comments!
Thanks Shalini. Actually I was regretting that I hadn't covered hymenoplasty. Yes it is a ridiculous hypocrisy - putting a lot of women through painful procedures whilst lining the pockets of the plastic surgeons. Don't the male comments just prove how stupid and vain the whole thing is.
I wonder if they'll come out with penile plastic surgery to make them look better? (Not that I'm interested!)
No - I don't know of any men that would let a knife down there!
I'm thinking of getting my left shoulderblade "done" because it's a quarter-inch lower than my right one and I'm afraid men will reject me.
Margaret - Don't do it! You may go through all that pain and he will still not want you!
My wife suggested one of these for me and I looked at her with upturned eyebrows. I'm not sure what she really meant and I was afraid to ask.
Yes it seems so common thesedays, and I blame it on pornography, if you look at much older Porn movies they look much more realistic as to how us woman really look down there, thesedays many men expect a woman to wax or shave to maintain this look too - A lot of painful and unecessary upkeep! Apparently many porn stars also bleach their anal area to keep it looking fair! I hope that process doesn't catch on too!
stricktlydating -yes I have read of that! ( I read it in a novel and thought it was a joke!) perish the thought.
Don Simkovich - may I suggest counseling?
I have heard of this before. Part of me says, whatever turns you on. But another part says, crazy unless you have discomfort and pain.
Well if it's ugly just put a pretty tattoo on it. LOL A tiger would be fitting, or a vixen. Men don't care, or I don't, didn't. Misha is right. hehe
Ummm .... ewww!I was raised in a different time being 45. I honestly just can't even imagine ever considering this. The fact that some do makes me so concerned for my daughters. It seems that our society's view of perfection has become so skewed and the only option is surgery.How are our young women supposed to learn to accept and glorify in their own beauty when they are bombarded by images of these "plastic peaple". To have it spread to even this ... is truly disturbing!
It may be an alarming new trend but not so alarming it isn't worth making a few dollars off.
From another point of view: It may not be the unclad viewing of the labia that is driving these women to have this type of surgery. It may be that they are unconfortable with how they appear when clad in pants or shorts. It may be that no matter what they wear, they are self conscience about the presense or, for lack of a better descriptive term, camel toe.
I think she means lips. LOL
WOW!!!!!!!!!! This is very different. What's next?
Speechless! women are crazier than ever! All that pain 4 what? we couldn't care less. LOL !We men like you the way you are. cheers !
Thanks for your comments guys. It is ridiculous. I am so pleased to hear that most people are in agreement about this. And that men don't care!
Sigh! What next?
What will we be brainwashed into believing we need so someone can 'laugh at us all the way to the bank!' On the bright side - women that do this are very few - at least I'd like to think so.
Great hub! Thank you!
That has to be painful!
There's a certain irony that the culture that is most vociferous (rightly) on the evils of FGM should be the first to introduce an upmarket designer version of it to inflict on themselves...
I only have this to say: Oww! Oww! Oww! Oww!
Oww indeed! Paraglider - how right you are.
Variety is the spice of life.Pretty boring all the same.Enjoy what you have not what you don't.
Sounds costly. I haven't heard much about this before. Thank you for the information.
J.
Well written and very informative! I had no idea women were doing this!
This hub was very informative, I had heard of this type of surgery before, but wasn't sure about the specifics. Great job!
Well researched and well written. I would hardly call 1,000 surgeries in 2006 a trend... more of an up tick. I would be interested to know if there were some sort of change in the availability of the procedure in the last year sudied (such as a special clinic coming on line and specializing in this surgery or a school of study graduating specialists in this realm) relieved some pent up demand for the procedure in the marketplace.
It is my opinion that too many women focus too much on changing their appearance by going under the knife as opposed to living a healthy lifestyle and keeping themselves in shape. The "media" is driving an unrealistic image of beauty through the manipulation of still photographs and cosmetic surgeries for TV personalities.
This gives new meaning to the phrase "Keeping it real". Those who do keep it real tend to be happier people over the long haul (from my observations).
Sorry to hear this. (side note - what kind of band aid to cover the stitches? I don't know if I'd want to use or explain why I was taking sick leave during recovery time) ANYWAY Thank you for this information - it was Great/strange/interesting/ouch!
wow-- I was always aware that women are insecure, but not THAT insecure. If a guy got attracted to a woman enough to get into her pants, I think he generally wouldn't care that much whats down there. I could be wrong though. I agree with steffsings though-- 'hey will you be there for the meeting?' 'uuh well i have a... have a... doctors... appointment...haha'
I've heard of this. Very interesting report. I'm a fan!
seems senseless to me . I am disturbed enough seeing all the ads now on T.V. about all the personal products,enhancement etc,can only imagine the BEFORE AND AFTER pictures sponsoring "THE VIEW"
Why our we allowing ourselves to buy into the farcical and damaging changes to our God-given bodies. We are not here forever. Surgery was once a procedure to correct a problem not create a potential life-time one.
No one can truly believe that this unproven procedure is worth it. Unless of course one is thinking of themselves as a porn queen? I don't think so?...
Thanks everyone for your comments. It is heartening to see that pretty much every person thinks this surgery is a shocking thing.
I have been wanting to get a tummy tuck and laser hair removal surgery.I have no time to go to the gym.I have to stay home with my son.When I have the time my husband alway wants me to hang out with him.
The laser hair removal can be performed at home by your husband and a pair of tweezers Andrea B.:)
Fantastic Job!!!!!!!!!!!Thanks!!!!!!!!!!
I guess I'm a bit old fashioned, but some things are not meant to be changed. I think our world has gotten so out of control. Women who think they must look like porn stars! Do we really want to acheive that? Do we not care about becoming real women who are intelligent and strong, useful and loving? all i can say is WOW.
It is funny and amusing, that women opt for these weird procedures in the hopes of garnering or retaining affection. I must warn you, neither will happen....
Catherine, I used to work for a large cosmetic surgery provider and I am sad to report that this procedure is becoming more and more common. It is so sad that females are putting themselves through this and I very much doubt that it is purely for their own heightened sexual pleasure, more likely to redress issues that have surfaced due to off the cuff remarks or worse just to please their partners.
After saying that though I self examined after reading this article and after 2 children and a double episiotomy I too would like to tidy that area! But I don't get any complaints from my husband so why bother? In fact after looking at my bits and knowing that my hubby is happy makes me realise how much he loves me whatever I look like down there and that fills me with confidence sexually. Embrace and love yourself whatever you think you look like! Its all good if you are loved.
I don't care about design .I hope who wear it will happy,I will happy too.
hey people only laught at you they dont care about your fellings
My gosh! What is this world coming too? Pure crazyness. Thanks for the info!
i think woman who want this procedures should have brain surgery instead LOL
I am happy I am 48 and not 18. I would hate to think that this will once be considered the 'good old days' to today's children who will have head translplants in the future.
I tried, I really did try - but this Hub made me read it - I didn't want to - it was hypnotic!! LOL OK so the hub is actually quite interesting...and I really do wonder if men really care if it's designer or not....nudge nudge wink wink say no more!
"An alarming study published in 2007 in the Annals of Plastic Surgery found that ten years after women get breast implants they are nearly three times as likely to commit suicide as other women."
Hmm, reading this, it's tempting to think "breast implants make you suicidal". When really it's more likely to be a case of "women who get breast implants tend to have low self-confidence, and are therefore more likely to commit suicide".
EmpressFelicity - you are of course absolutely right - surely these women have low self-confidence to begin with. Mamajal - your sentiments are just great. Simey C - so sorry that my hypnotic hub got you in the end! Thanks everyone else for your comments which are all so against this procedure that one wonders where the women going for it are.
Thats cool hey if the woman has popped out a bunch of kids i say get the surgery. If it makes you feel better about yourself im all for it!
as a Man of the world i can tell you from a testosterone point of view that cosmetic vaginal surgery is completely unnecessary,especially that spot God named after himself,its true cause when i touch it she always calls out his name...peace
My main theory about it is if your can't take care of yourself in the first place then why try to throw on somehting fake and floss it then later you have to mess up your body even more because once you start surgery by some means you get addicted to it and your body stars craving it showing your mental mind that you need it. Its simply a shame.
I'm sorry, but this only seems like something that could benefit street walkers & strippers.
I mean really - I just don't see anyone showing off their designer vagina unless that is the case.
To each their own, I guess... :-)
Thanks all for your comments. Jessica Horn - you have a point! You wouldn't think too many people would be viewing the new vagina! Cheaptrick - your 'man of the world' perspective made me laugh!
I haven't heard much about this before. Thank you for the information.
Lol guess we called that high tech gynotechnology hahha ...Yeah I know thru surgery the surgeron make some one real happy ...
Interesting hub. I cannot help but question how women have lost their self of confidence, self esteem and pride to perform such alterations to their bodies. There is a need of education and teaching women, especially young girls, how beautiful they are naturally.
If it's purely for medical condition, I would understand. However, there are some people out there who have different views, and I guess we just have to understand. It's their bodies, and they shall decide what they do with it, no matter how strange.
One thing is for sure, this is not for every woman at all. The same goes for any other cosmetic surgery procedure. I may not be against it generally, but I know the reality and I am totally against the malpractice of any of these surgeries so great informational hubs like these are very well appreciated indeed. Keep up the good work Catherine!
I am just wondering when some chick decided her vagina was not pretty enough? Whaaaaa!!!!! How in the world does a teenager determine what a vagina should look like?
Dang things aren't pretty anyways but come on now. Remember that song, "Do your balls hang low..." Now it will be, "does your vag. hang low..." here is a link to the song lyrics for your entertainment. http://www.folklore.ms/html/songs_sorted_by_name/w
I cannot believe what the world is coming to, willingly mutilating themselves.
Love it! I know the song well - my sons take delight in singing it. Thanks sandra for giving me a laugh and indeed noticing the connection!
Thank you everyone for your comments and for reading this old hub!
i do agree it is a worrying trend. Geez, i never knew this is becoming a trend. great hub you have here, i've learned a new thing today. people, especially women, should build more confidence for who they are and what they have.
Good thought and I can understand your feeling behind it. Thanks
A great hub here. I have heard of some of these procedures, and yes, sometimes the surgeons do exaggerate the "pain" thing a bit as being not as bad, somehow. It is good to know what options are available for women, and that there are ways to improve the look of untidy body parts for women! Cheers!
are you serious? I had no idea females even thought of doing something like this. Eye opening hub!
This is such an interesting hub and I am particularly interested in your posts on labiaplasty. I am a lecturer and film maker in the North East of England conducting research into labia surgery before making an animated documentary on the subject. Funded by the Wellcome Trust we are looking to speak to woman who have had or thought about having labia surgery as part of our research. If you would be willing to answer some questions about your story then please get in touch siobhan@lynchpin.org - in confidence ofcourse, We feel that the inclusion of womans real life stories will really help to create a film that will be of an educational benefit. Thank you for reading this post.
Jean H 2 years ago
A great hub Catherine R! I wonder what made you think of writing on this topic?! It seems that the risks of 'reduced sexual pleasure, chronic pain, scarring and obstetric risk' should surely be enough to put most people off this crazy idea.