[Sarihah]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8132227/

Women have become much more assertive in their own desire for sexual gratification and cosmetic enhancement. They are coming to plastic surgeons, ob-gyns and a hybrid specialist called a urogynecologist for procedures to nip the inner labia, plump the outer labia, tighten the vagina and even restore the hymen...

Maybe I'm behind the times. I had no idea that there was any kind of a demand for this type of plastic surgery.

 

[Mydragonboy]

Gee, all this time i have been tortured by my undermabrasioned skin, sagging neck wattle beginnings, unlifted breasts, unlipo'd thighs and bottom, and I really should have been focusing in this area instead?
Getting right on the worry....

 

[Emzachsmama]

Definitely not on my list of priorities!

 

[gethane]

I'm really sad that culture places such a significance on sexual appearance that women would feel the need to pretty up the privates.

Women should be loved for who they are, not what their labia looks like.

sad.. sad... sad...

 

[thismama]

The language of the article is creepy - women "becoming more assertive" and "own desire." Implies cosmetic surgery on genitals is some sort of empowerment and autonomy for women.

What it's really about IMO is the normalization of plastic surgery and increasing pressure on women to be physically "perfect" in a standardized, culturally approved way.

 

[gethane]

:

That much more eloquently states what bothers me about it!

 

[chersolly]

An ex-coworker of mine had her hymen surgically restored. What a waste of money!

Children are starving and women are spending money to have perfect whoohaas. What a joke.

 

[girlndocs]

Can we make that "perfect" whoohas, with quotation marks? They're *creepy*. They all look the same. They all look like airbrushed porn-star whoohas.

That's one of the most disturbing points to me -- that misogynistic, objectifying porn imagery has crept so much into the people's minds that women are actually judging their vulvas on how much or little they look like the ones on porn stars. How can anyone still not believe that media images influence the way we think after this?

 

[goodcents]

Sad - but restoration of the hymen is a popular surgery in the middle east. It is "make believe you are a virgin" or being ostrasized from your friends, family and culture.

 

[hunnybumm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodcents Sad - but restoration of the hymen is a popular surgery in the middle east. It is "make believe you are a virgin" or being ostrasized from your friends, family and culture.

This I can somewhat understand simply because of their culture, I don't agree, but I understand.

Now, I am curious exactly how many of these surgeries are being done (I didn't read the article), are they making it sound like it is an everyday sort of thing, when only a very small percentage of woman do this? Call be a pesimist but I can think of about a million other plastic surgerys I would rather have than this one. After the pain of a second degree tear + a lybia tear, I wouldn't want to put myself through that for vanity, ouch!

Lastly... how many men do these woman plan on showing their whooha to? My DH could care less what it looks like as long as it works. LOL

ETA I think if a woman is having this done simply for vanity (not for a legitimite medical issue) then she probably has a lot more issues then what her whooha looks like. She has probably had many other plastic surgeries and this is just the next on her list. There are issues that go way beyond the surgery, more of the emotional or psycological type.

 

[mahdokht]

I don't see how this is any different than any other kind of genital manipulation/mutilation in the world. Women in other countries willingly cut their genitals in order to be pleasing to men and meet cultural standards. Interesting.

 

[AngelBee]

 

[Knittin' in the Shade]

Okay, someone fill me in, but with the hymen-restoration surgery- wouldn't that be a total waste of money? I mean, first time you have sex afterwards, wouldn't it just go back to how it was before the surgery?

 

[girlndocs]

Yeah, that's the point -- for that one time you have sex, you seem to be a virgin. And you only have to seem to be a virgin once, KWIM?

 

[Sarihah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mahdokht I don't see how this is any different than any other kind of genital manipulation/mutilation in the world. Women in other countries willingly cut their genitals in order to be pleasing to men and meet cultural standards. Interesting.

I don't see how this practice can be seriously compared with female genital mutilation. First, these are adult women making a choice to undergo surgery. Female genital mutilation is most commonly forced on protesting children.

Secondly, these surgeries utilize anesthetic and pain killers, sterile instruments and degreed medical personel. Female genital mutilation is typically performed on a screaming, quite conscious child with unsanitary instruments by a woman with no medical training.

 

[mahdokht]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarihah I don't see how this practice can be seriously compared with female genital mutilation. First, these are adult women making a choice to undergo surgery. Female genital mutilation is most commonly forced on protesting children. Secondly, these surgeries utilize anesthetic and pain killers, sterile instruments and degreed medical personel. Female genital mutilation is typically performed on a screaming, quite conscious child with unsanitary instruments by a woman with no medical training.

A) It is not unusual for women who did not have it done as children or women who didn't have 'enough' done to willingly do it.

B) In Egypt, at least, it is sometimes done by doctors in sterile environments. I don't see how it could *not* be compared. Well except that it's white women with cash, and what they do is respected as choice.

 

[goodcents]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mahdokht A) It is not unusual for women who did not have it done as children or women who didn't have 'enough' done to willingly do it. B) In Egypt, at least, it is sometimes done by doctors in sterile environments. I don't see how it could *not* be compared. Well except that it's white women with cash, and what they do is respected as choice.

Hmm Mahdokht - my dh who is egyptian says this is against the law. And if it is practiced (which it is in southern egypt), it is never done by doctors in sterile environments. Do you have more info?

 

[A&A]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarihah I don't see how this practice can be seriously compared with female genital mutilation.

The tie-in factor is the culture that promotes both -- the culture that says (to men and women) that their genitalia is not good enough --so either we'll forcibly "fix" it for you when you're an infant, or we'll make you think it's necessary to fix it yourself later.

A great book to read on this topic is "Secret Wounds" by Hanny Lightfoot-Klein.

PS. The PP said "genital mutilation" but you specifically said female genital mutilation. Genital mutilation happens to boys, as well (especially in America, but we usually give it the euphemized label of "circumcision.")

 

[Sarihah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by A&A The tie-in factor is the culture that promotes both -- the culture that says (to men and women) that their genitalia is not good enough --so either we'll forcibly "fix" it for you when you're an infant, or we'll make you think it's necessary to fix it yourself later. A great book to read on this topic is "Secret Wounds" by Hanny Lightfoot-Klein. PS. The PP said "genital mutilation" and but you specifically said female genital mutilation. Genital mutilation happens to boys, as well (especially in America, but we usually give it the euphemized label of "circumcision.")

The tie in doesn't work for me due to the differences in the practices. The differences are substantial enough for me to view these things in different lights.

The PP said 'genital mutilation' in one sentence and referenced women in the following sentence. This led me to believe that she was focusing on female genital mutilation as the original post was focused on a presumed rise in
genital plastic surgery specifically amongst WOMEN. The PP has not corrected me but I assume she will do so if I have misconstrued her point.

I'm surprised that you would find it necessary to educate me regarding the existence of male circumcision, a practice that I do not condone or support but which is, unlike female genital mutilation, performed in a medical environment with sterile instruments. Yes, I find it barbaric. However, I find shaving off a young girl's clitoris with a rusty knife or a piece of glass to be even MORE barbaric. I choose to use the phrase 'genital mutilation' for the practice against women. I do not justify this choice, and it is a CHOICE and true choice requires no justication.

My sister-in-law is a nurse in a cardiac intensive care unit who swears that the uncircumcised men that she has cared for experience many health issues related to their uncircumcised condition and she believes that circumcision has health benefits in later life that warrant the procedure. I don't know if that is the case or not, and I realize that there are no medical authorities that recommend routine circumcison, but I don't think my sister-in-law would be inclined to lie about her personal experiences in the medical field. I have no son, but if I did I would not circumcise him under any circumstances.

 

[mahdokht]

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodcents Hmm Mahdokht - my dh who is egyptian says this is against the law. And if it is practiced (which it is in southern egypt), it is never done by doctors in sterile environments. Do you have more info?

Nope, I read it in a news report a long time ago. There were some doctors doing it because they said that if women were going to do it anyway they might as well have it done in a clean environment. I suppose you could google something, I'm honestly waaay too tired to dig up sources. Sorry.