Teenage Girls Seeking Designer Vagina Surgery

New research has found an increasing number of Australian teenage girls are requesting cosmetic surgery or ‘Designer Vagina Surgerg’ on their genitals even though their body parts are actually normal.

These girls have what is called “Genital Anatomy Anxiety”, a condition that is believed to be on the rise as women have a distorted perception of how a “normal-looking” vagina appears as a result of the rise of internet pornography and photoshopped images of vaginas, and also because more women than ever before remove their pubic hair. In turn, they are seeking ‘Designer Vagina’s’ by having surgery to have their labia reduced in size.

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According to news.com.au, a survey of 443 Australian GPs found that a third had seen patients aged under 18 who wanted to trim or shape their genitalia, seeking a ‘Designer Vagina’, while almost all doctors who took part in the survey said that they had seen women of all ages concerned about the appearance of their genitalia.

More than half of the GPs surveyed said women requesting genital surgery often have a range of mental health issues such as anxiety, body dysmorphic disorder, eating disorders or depression.

A report by Women’s Health Victoria found that between 2000 and 2011, claims for vaginal cosmetic surgery procedures vulvoplasty and labiaplasty grew 640 per year to 1565 per year.

The President of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Professor Steve Robson, told news.com.au, women are increasingly becoming insecure about how their genitals look.

“With the fad of removing a lot of pubic hair, women and their partners can see the labia in more detail,” he said.

“Lots of women don’t think they’re normal because they compare themselves to unrealistic models.”

“If your genitalia look and function normally, you do not require an operation.”

“I would do a labiaplasty if there was really a great degree of asymmetry, or someone had big labia which become inflamed when they ride a bike or do other forms of exercise.

“Often women just want to please their partners. I’ve said to them: The problem is with your partner, not your vagina'”

Labiaplasty has been around for a long time and wasn’t always used to make the vulva look pretty. Doctors have used it to treat congenital defects and abnormalities such as vaginal atresia (an absent vaginal passage), malformed uterus and fallopian tubes, and tearing and stretching caused by childbirth, accidents and age.

However, genital plastic surgery is now one of the fastest-growing areas of cosmetic surgery, and the industry selling “vaginal rejuvenation” procedures is preying on a whole host of insecurities.

What Does Designer Vagina Surgery Involve?

Women who think they need cosmetic surgery on their vaginas are often concerned that their vagina doesn’t look a specific way: they want their labias to appear little, completely symmetrical and their clitoris to be completely visible.

Labiaplasty involves cutting off the labia minora, right up to the body, and slicing away part of the clitoral hood. It is usually performed under local anesthetic so women are awake throughout the procedure.

According to experts, risks of labiaplasty include increased or decreased sensitivity if nerves get caught in the operation. The procedure is frequently botched, is painful and is also expensive. So why do women do it? Because they have been tricked by fictitious vaginas.

The digitally altered pictures of vaginas that women are comparing their own to are just a work of fiction. Female models and porn stars are chosen for the way their bodies look – including their vaginas – and this, in turn, warps womens’ self-image as they decide that their vagina doesn’t look “perfect”.

In fact, in Australia, censorship laws actually add to the problem and perpetuate the designer vagina myth. Our censors have very strict rules about the ‘kind’ of vaginas that can be seen in magazines and other media. They are okay with the outside of the vagina being shown, but any protruding parts such as labia are a no-no. So even if it’s a women’s magazine like Cleo or Cosmo or some sort of sex ed publication, women aren’t given the opportunity to see what a real vagina looks like. Because of the censorship imposed by our government, vaginas, when they are depicted, have to be Photoshopped to appear as “a single crease”.

So what women aren’t able to see is that vaginas are packaged in a wide variety of ways. The colour, size and shape of labia vary significantly from woman to woman. Labia can vary in size from two to ten centimetres, and it is also common for each side of labia to be a different length. Events such as puberty childbirth and aging can alter the look of a woman’s vagina, especially her labia.

The quest to have the perfect “designer vagina” isn’t just happening in Australia. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery reported that 400 girls aged 18 and younger had labiaplasty in the USA last year – an increase of 80 per cent from the 222 girls who had the procedure in 2014. Meanwhile, a British report in 2013 found the number of labial reductions being performed by the UK National Health Service had increased five-fold over a 10-year period.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has recently issued guidelines to doctors to assist women who want to have genital surgery. They’re urging doctors to reassure these women and suggest non-surgical alternatives that may alleviate their discomfort. The college also recommends that women be screened for psychiatric disorders.

In Australia, the Royal College of General Practitioners issued guidelines for doctors treating patients who request genital surgery. Among the recommendations is that the women be directed to images of female genitalia that haven’t been digitally altered.