You can rest easy, gals. Turns out there's nothing "wrong" with your vulva after all. A study published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology has declared that most women seeking genital cosmetic surgery to reduce the size of their inner lips do not have oversized or misshapen labia minora.
Such findings feel liberating until you consider that the researchers themselves may be perpetuating the designer vulva problem. While the investigators determined that 30 of the 33 women had labia with dimensions within the normal published limits, the other 3 women's vaginal lips were sized up as having "significant asymmetry," as in a mean (SD) of 26.9 (12.8) mm on the right side of the vulva and 24.8 (13.1) mm on the left side.
This gave them the green light for NHS-covered surgery at the University College London hospital clinic, where the research was based. The clinic can only perform surgeries on females whose genitalia measure outside of what's considered normal.
Yet what is meant by "normal"?
Dr. Sarah Creighton, gynecologist and the study's lead investigator, is quoted as saying "there is little information about what is normal," with her team encouraging the publication of more large-scale data on normal labial measurements. Such commentary indicates that, as depicted in pornography and advertisements, vulvas are indeed supposed to have a certain look. Anything outside of a range would, otherwise, be considered abnormal.
The fact of that matter is that, when it comes to genitalia -- or one's breasts or one's testicles -- what's normal is to have a wide range of sizes. What's normal is for one side of a person's body to be anywhere from a bit to a lot bigger, longer, fatter, smaller ... than the other side. Asymmetry is the norm when it comes to people's body parts!
The main concern with genital cosmetic surgery isn't determining who should and shouldn't be eligible for such services; it's the need to counter the misperceptions of what is normal that ultimately cause distress.
In helping to quell women's aesthetic concerns about their vulva, we need to start by educating them about the human body and the influence of cultural expectations and appeal on what's supposedly desirable. We need to continue the campaign being waged by women around the world that diversity is beauty. And we need to target females when they're young.
The average age of the 33 aforementioned participants was 23, with one-quarter 16 or younger, and the youngest a mere 11-years-old. Forty percent wanted smaller labia "to improve appearance," a stat made even more unnerving when you consider that all participants were referred by general practitioners who felt that surgery was appropriate treatment. Now just how "normal" is that?
Follow Dr. Yvonne K. Fulbright on Twitter: www.twitter.com/YvonneFulbright
“What vanity! Or is it misplaced insecurity¬?”
I don’t think you could exclude those traits from each other, or from any person. They are both part of the human condition. They don’t dictate the discussion, but they play a role.
They call it bumping uglies because they lack a better term. Just as the author’s title illustrates, this conversation is usually dumbed down. They don’t say brass balls because testacles resemble brass the more daring a man is. They are simply vulgar terms that arise from adolescence.
BTW
I am a man who shares the word beautiful with my wife as a way to describe each others genitals.
I feel inspired by the simple thought of them together, to go further in describing how much and in what ways I appreciate my wife’s genitals, and how she expresses her appreciation of mine, but I will refrain from elaborating.
I hope that it’s clear enough that you are representing a narrow slice of the spectrum in your assessment.
I am in my sixties and I was a single man from the mid eighties 'til 2010.......when I married my best friend....and I have seen probably more than my share of those beautiful things and each one was unique. Some were compact,some were long and hung out and some were neatly tucked inside....but all were beautiful and special.
PLEASE...PLEASE ....think before you let anyone near them with a scalpel......post op pain has to be off the chart and then there is the damage to the nerves and loss of sensation you KNOW has to follow surgery of that type.
I have NEVER seen an ugly one....just different ones and I thought all of them were beautiful!!!
So, the inner lips are called the Labia Minora
Interesting
I’m sure the figure that educates most (ethnocentric) young people about female anatomy, Barbie, doesn’t have the Labia Minora. In contrast, Ken dolls always wore underwear so you couldn’t really evaluate his nakedness.
It seems childish to refer to dolls, but as I look at the comments and the lack of forward descriptions like "inner lips" or scientific ones like Labia Minora, it seems that a stunted level of understanding is evident.
Some are more poetic in their descriptions; using metaphors like "nether-regions-of-infinite-delight", others are more obscure using words like "stuff" or "parts”. There is no comfortable way to describe what is not fully understood. I am not simply suggesting that anyone who uses these terms personally doesn’t know the actual names of the parts they are describing, but that they also may be assuming that the person they are speaking with doesn’t know the names of the body parts they are discussing.
This leaves resorting to the most generic earliest depiction of the female form they remember, Barbie, and the following description illustrates the related uncertainty of that age.
I believe if children were better educated about their bodies then they wouldn’t resort to dolls for anatomy questions, and as adults would be able to comfortably manage any doubts they may have about their body.
As a man I tell you simply: We don't care what it looks like. As long as you're an innie and not an outtie who looks like an innie prior to pants-removal, the aesthetic makeup of the window dressing on your happy funtimes lovepocket is not a priority!
I just knocked posters for using dumb downed descriptions so....ill respond directly to that.
I don’t think your comment helps anything
It’s like saying "Girly, if you‘re gonna walk in them like that, the color of your shoes doesn’t matter!"
What does matter? What is the priority?
It seems to me that the focus is still centered on approval.
Your post insinuates that any man would be happy with the "window dressing" if they are freely allowed to have "funtimes" with the "lovepocket"
Looking at it that way makes your post seem quite detestable
I think that the motive was seen by you as a need to please a man, when that may have less to do with it than you think. I believe that it is instead social pressure from media, men, and other women that causes this kind of self doubt. If it does stem from the wanted approval of a man, doesn’t that willingness to self mutilate in order to get that approval show that there is a bigger problem than that man’s disapproval? I think that sexual approval is only one aspect of this kind of genital mutilation, and when it is the case, misogyny isn’t the remedy. Fierce feminism should be a remedy for a woman who feels they must change to gain a partner. Not actualized feminism through intercourse, but actualized feminism through self approval.
:-)
Wondering if their bodies are normal is normal behavior for that age, but unless clinical deformity is a real issue, the proper treatment is reassurance.
Many people under the age of 16 undergo cosmetic surgery
The question remains
"how can that be appropriate for children?"
I am sure that it has never been appropriate for a parent to support and or allow a child to receive superficial (non-reparative) cosmetic surgery.
I think the fact that they do means that this study should have encompassed that age range, as some kids of that age will get that surgery.
Remember these were all patients who were already referred to a surgeon. Simply take out this study, and they would likely already have the surgery. With that in mind I don’t think the study is skewed, and I think its findings better represent the social condition because of who it included it.
I agree with your post on its other points. Simply working through adolescents with what you have, as you begin to be aware of the endless worldly possibilities, is what I think prepares an adolescent to be limited to who they are and what they do. This growth is what moves someone beyond the need to have cosmetic surgery I think.
Thank you for pointing out my error, and doing so with grace.
For half(give/take)their life their "normal", was prepubescent gentiles, and the other half was post pubescent gentiles. So the norm for their personal gentiles is not consistent.
I think you could use the same scenario play at 20, and at 40.
After 20years of having sexual activity, and regular aging, the genitals are again, normally not constant.
I think that the idea of normalcy is perpetuated by the provider of the service. I think that is what the article dances around.
It plays out by the provider asking the 40year old woman if her gentile’s looks like they normally did when she was 20.
NO?
Well the doctor can fix what he convinced the patient is something wrong.
As a man I can only relate to this insecurity, that arises do to the changing of the genitals, by my desire as a child to be a fully matured male. Then I could compare my fully matured genitals to that of the average penis size which I became aware of as early as 9yrs old. Until I was sure my penis wasn’t getting any bigger, or that it was big enough to be happy with, I was very uncertain, and would have been accepting of any quick fix that ensured normalcy. I’m lucky I wasn’t made aware of any that were socially acceptable.
Now that I’ve matured, I hear that I’m just gonna sag like crazy the older I get.
Woohoo that’s life!
May I just say: Stop the madness. Women's "nether regions" come in many shapes and sizes. Some women have completely hidden inner labia, and others have large ones that have their own character and shape. Some women have larger clitorises, some have smaller. Some have larger labia, some smaller. I suppose it's the same for men in terms of variation in size and shape.
And you know what? It's beautiful just the way it is. In fact, I personally prefer a woman with larger labia. I find it sexy and feminine.
I'd rather focus on intimacy with the person, and enjoy each other in a loving and passionate way, than to find fault in her anatomy. As far as I'm concerned, I'm happy with what I have, and I try my best to make her feel fantastic. I hope more women feel the same as I do.
A JG should always be truthful but delicate, particularly with grandchildren.
So when a toddler asks, "Have you got a penis down there, grandma?" the correct response is, "Not at the moment, darling." Applying this principle to herself and her own inner child ("truthful but delicate") should allay any nonsense fears a woman might have about "normalcy."
What is wrong with us? What is making us feel so inferior that we have to take such drastic, painful measures to "fix" ourselves?
The idea that our most unique sexual feature needs to be "a certain look" is absurd.
If women buy this nonsense, I foresee a future when our labia length becomes a matter of fashion, like hemlines. Next there will be stretching, to achieve a "maxi look"!
Just say no...please?
Women need to stop treating their bodies like play dough, and value what they are intrinsically.
F&F!