Designer Vagina
Is a name penned by the media, to describe some of the following procedures: Labiaplasty Minora, Labiaplasty Majora, Clitoral Hood Reduction, Vaginoplasty, Hymen Repair, Mons Reduction.
In reality, most women only ever capture a glimpse of another women’s most private parts.
Due to the location of the vagina, it is so private that most women have not seen their own, much less another woman's.
Many talented artists and photographers around the world in recent times have been making vagina portraits or sculptures to help educate women and in fact men, on the diversity of this most private part of the female anatomy. They are close-up, or cast images of vulvas, the elusive faces of the female vagina in plain view, that allows us to... "see ourselves for ourselves."
Why contemplate a designer vagina surgery procedure?
It is important to understand the diveresity of this most private part of our body, before we attempt to bring about any surgical intervention or change, for purely cosmetic reasons only, or due to the unwarranted influence of a partner.
In many instances women who have been through broken marriages or a number of failed relationships and seek to address their unique anatomical features with surgical change.
When most women are asked if they like the way their vagina looks. Many answer with the sudden realisation that they had never really taken a good look at it, and that other than a fleeting view or two of pornographic movies, they hadn’t actually seen any other women’s vagina.
Following a British Television documentary on the ‘designer vagina’, screened in 2008, The website for the show ran a poll which asked visitors "have you considered having a designer vagina?."
Of the 9216 respondents (on 13 Oct, 2008), 43% answered yes, they had considered having such surgery. While viewers of the site (and thus voters) are likely to have a particular interest in Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery (FGCS), the result still indicates an incredibly high proportion of women dislike their genitalia enough to have considered surgery as an option.
The predominant reason was because they considered... 'that there was something wrong with how their vulva looked, and... that their vagina should look a certain way.'
The shape of our vulvas really are all different, incredibly different and beautiful and a reflection of how different we are as individual people with different personalities.
The decision to bring about change should be taken with this context in mind, and only after careful thought, planning and proper consultation.
At Aesthetica, many women present for labiaplasty procedures for genuine reasons of health and well being, their unique anatomical attributes simply make 'day to day life' uneasy or even painful during work, sport or having satisfying sexual interaction with their partner.
Just one section from 'the Great Wall of Vagina' an upcoming sculpture display in England where over 350 individual women have had their vagina cast, already included are examples of male to female and a female to male transsexuals, a virgin, a porn star and some women with some elaborate piercings. Ages so far range from 18 year old students to a grandmother of 76. The artist..."Why am I doing it and what's it all about?" I hear you ask. Well, vulvas and labia are as different as faces and many people, particularly women, don't seem to know that. Men tend to have seen more than women, who have often only seen their own, and many have never looked that closely
Other trends that have influenced Vaginal Surgery.
Newer, shifts in cultural trends also help make sense of the ‘rise’ of the designer vagina.
Two central factors in western cultures relate to pubic hair removal and pornography. This influence is best summed up with this woman’s comment related to an online labiaplasty poll:
“I blame porn for this. And Brazilian waxes. Nobody was comparing lips when they were nicely hidden in the bush”.
The emphasis on removal of most or all pubic hair for women has become widespread in the last 5-10 years, to the point it has been claimed as “routine” and “entirely mainstream” in adults and adolescents. So much so that many women are reportedly having ‘permanent Brazilians’.
The removal of most or all pubic hair makes the vulva more visible, and more an object of attention (and also more prepubescent ).
It is indicative of a shift from the vulva being a part of women’s ‘natural’ body where modification was not mandated, to being a part almost inherently inadequate without at least some minor modificatory (e.g., depilatory) practice.
Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery is part of this shift in status, and a link between this trend for pubic hair removal, and “the rise and rise of vaginal cosmetic surgery” and it is frequently noted in women’s narratives of cosmetic surgery presented in the media:
"When it became all the rage to get heavy bikini waxes and have almost no pubic hair, my prominent labia really started to bother me" (Marie Claire, UK, 2000)
This hairless norm has also been linked to pornography as has Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery, and especially to magazines such as Playboy:
“by 2001, pubic hair seems to almost have disappeared from the pages of [Playboy]”
In recent years, ‘mainstream’ pornography has come to occupy a more normalised position within western heterosexual relationships, so that heterosexual women may well be exposed to a range of (depilated) supposedly particularly desirable vulvas, to which they can compare their own. In media accounts, women describe these vulvas as desirable:
"I really wanted my genitals to have the tight, tucked-in look that I’d seen in men’s magazines" (Cosmopolitan, Aus/NZ, 2001).
This debate and the shift in public attitude towards cosmetic surgery will continue, however it can be best summed up by this Report.
"Because some opponents and critics say that women are requesting labiaplasties out of vanity, solely to have “more socially acceptable genitalia” created. Six academics, including the heads of two women’s centres and the chiefs of four university departments of obstetrics and gyneacology, discussed the matter in a symposium sponsored by The International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Medicine.
They discussed elective vulvar plastic surgery and also female genital cutting in Third World nations, and assigned six experts to gather vulvar health evidence.
The report indicated that variations in vulvar appearance are statistically normal, but that labiaplasty, like any medical treatment, is a woman’s right, concluding that vulvar surgery might be medically warranted only after counseling and if it remains her choice; the surgery must be safely effected, and the doctor performs it as medical requirement, not solely for the business purpose of performing surgery.
What gynaecological rejuvenation procedures are available?
Labiaplasty Minora (labia reduction)
This labiaplasty procedure (also known as labioplasty) is for the removal of excess, floppy, or uneven labia minora (smaller interior vaginal lips) that can often cause chronic irritation, rubbing, or discomfort during sexual intercourse.
Many women request this surgery to eliminate the appearance of a bulge with certain clothing such as wet swimsuits or leotards.
Labiaplasty Majora
The broader outer lips of the vulva can be enlarged with excess skin and tissue. This enlargement can cause an embarrassing bulge in pants, swimsuits, or tights. It can also increase the discomfort of sweating in the vulva.
The labia majora may be enlarged from birth, secondary to childbirth, or due to ageing. Many women can also have a large and droopy labia majora after major weight loss such as post bariatric surgery.
Our doctors have refined this labiaplasty majora technique over the years to safely reduce the size of the labia majora by exicing a crescent shaped portion of the inner portion of the labia majora. The scar is hidden in the crease between the inner and outer labia.
Clitoral Hood Reduction
Clitoral hood reduction involves removing excess skin on the sides of the clitoris often causes the clitoris to look enlarged or uneven. Genetics, estrogen, and testosterone exposure can make significant changes in the way the clitoral area appears. Labiaplasty surgery itself may result in the appearance of a relatively larger clitoral area since the excess labia have been removed drawing the eyes to the clitoral region.
Aesthetica offers an exceptionally precise clitoral surgery for women seeking to improve the aesthetic appearance of their genital area by excising the extra folds of skin lateral to the clitoris. The clitoris itself and its nerves are never touched. Clitoral hood reduction is not clitoral mutilation or clitoral un-hooding.
Vaginoplasty (vaginal rejuvenation / vaginal tightening)
Aesthetica aesthetic vaginal surgery aims to tighten lax muscles and tissues and remove excess vaginal skin to narrow the diameter of the vagina resulting in a smaller and tighter opening and vaginal canal. With Aesthetica vaginoplasty the vaginal tightening is done in the entire length of the vagina and not merely the opening few centimeters.
Hymenoplasty (hymen repair)
The hymen repair procedure involves the reconstruction of the hymen. Cultural, religious, or social reasons are usually why hymen repair surgery is contemplated. Hymenoplasty is performed to make the patient appear virginal. It works for women who have not had vaginal deliveries, and preferably, in those who have never been pregnant. Once a hymenoplasty has been completed and healed, the act of sexual intercourse can result in bleeding when the hymen is torn or stretched.
Mons Reduction
The mons reduction procedure can be performed as part of a larger liposuction procedure, or as a procedure on it's own. Careful sculpturing of the Mons ( Mound of Venus - which is the fatty tissue that covers the front of the pubic bone ) can reduce any excessive bulkiness, that may sometimes interfere with clothes.
The Aesthetica consultation process.
At Aesthetica, our practice manager will initially consult with you at no cost, prior to a further medical consultation with our surgeon Dr Les Blackstock. If for any reason we consider you may be intending to proceed with Vaginal surgery for the wrong reasons we do not hesitate to advise you.
Furthermore we advise a consultation with our clinical physcologist, if we feel that you are approaching this very important decision without proper consultation. Please refer to our page on Vaginal Surgery for further information.
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