I’d always thought that vaginas looked like, well, vaginas. One’s vagina was not necessarily prettier or uglier than another, the same goes for penises: variations on a genital theme, to be enjoyed at one’s own tempo and in one’s own style. In the age of narcissism and self-creation, it should not necessarily surprise me as much as it does that there is a demand for surgical vaginal beautification.
Even girls as young as 18 years old are having vaginal surgery in the hope of having “the perfect vagina.” Is this growing trend something to be concerned about? Why are so many women opting for the vagina surgery?
The prevailing and conflicting attitudes about female sexuality and beauty standards underpin the rise in demand for vaginal surgery. A number of women are undergoing series of procedures called designer vaginas. Dr. Sejal Desai, an obstetrician and gynecologist who specializes in vaginal cosmetic surgery told the Deccan Chronicle that the term covers vaginal tightening, solving orgasm issues, labiaplasty, clitoral unhooding as well as procedures to remove wrinkles and change the skin tone of the vagina to match that of the body. Women can choose out of these options to have their vagina ‘designed’ as per their desire.
Desai has performed many procedures in this field, like, shortening the labia, tightening vagina, amplifying G-spot and even tightening of the strings on the clitoral hood. She can take into account preferences for shape and color and boost one’s self-confidence and physicality in order to have best sex with more orgasms.
The most popular among young women is the ‘Barbie Doll Labiaplasty’, where the labia is scraped enough to make the vagina look like that of a newborn. Women are looking to have a vagina that looks and feels really smooth like that of a little girl.
The demand for “designer vaginas” is not just restricted to big cities. Saptarshi Bhattacharya, a plastic surgeon from Kolkata, claims to have performed labiaplasties on women from Bihar, Jharkhand and the northeastern states. “I have operated on everyone, from students to housewives and working women,” he said.
Today, women are more self-conscious of their genital area when wearing bikini or any other swim wear, jeans and yoga pants and there has been a rise in women going bare, down there, having Brazilian waxes and laser hair removal. It has indeed become fashionable and as a result women have, all of a sudden, started to see things they may not have taken notice of before.
Women who choose to undergo labiaplasty surgery are just not doing for aesthetic reasons, but also for functional reasons. It came into light that "designer vaginas" procedures are not simply associated with visual aspects, but are equally effective when it comes to the functional aspects. From making vaginas free of wrinkles to making it tight, women opt out the surgery for looking good not only from outside but also from inside. The concept of beauty has extended from having the right looking cheeks to the right looking genitals.
One of the reasons why women opt for vaginal surgery is also physical changes which occur as a result of giving birth. A 35 year-old lady, a mother of two: ‘After my second child, I stopped enjoying sex the way I used to. Understandably, I was scared and unaware and didn't want to make it worse, but with a combination of laser vaginal rejuvenation and designer laser vaginoplasty, I was back in action in 4 weeks,’ she says.
She is really glad that she actually looked up her condition on the internet and got help. ‘There is a great need for more doctors in this field as many women are suffering in silence,’ she says.
A woman, with a five-year-old child, underwent a hymen reconstruction. The procedure is promoted as “revirginization” with even older women opting for it. Sometimes, they are given the procedure as an anniversary gift for their partner. “My husband and I wanted to feel the way we felt at our wedding night,” said the lady.
The reality is, for some women, vaginal surgery has made all the difference between a life of chronic anxiety and doubt and one of pleasure and confidence. We see that women are actually happy and feel confident after undergoing such surgery and it’s totally up to her for what reason she is undergoing such change. It’s absolutely her choice!!!
However, in conservative, sex-shy countries like ours, this can be a complex issue. But we can start by doing away with the shame surrounding vagina talk, along with the promotion of certain idealized vaginal aesthetics from the medical industry.
“Whether a woman does this for medical or aesthetic reasons, it’s her choice”.
-Margaret Oliphant
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