No such thing as an ideal situation

Love your body. At least that’s what the National Organization for Women says you should do. Its ongoing campaign for positive body image encourages women to see through the smoke and mirrors and Photoshop used in the media, and to celebrate their own natural bodies. But has anyone told you lately to love your vagina?

As the demand for genital cosmetic surgery rises, it is growing clearer that body image no longer applies to just breast size or waistline.

Some women are now feeling pressure to change their genitals to conform to an ideal.

Vanessa Shick of Indiana University sought to answer this very query in the latest Journal of Sex Research, and where else could she turn but fellow journal Playboy Magazine?

Schick analyzed 647 monthly centerfolds from Playboy, dating back to their first issue in December 1953. In addition to scoring each model’s general physique, she assessed visibility of the mons pubis (pubic mound), the pubic hair and the labia majora/minora.

At first, none of the centerfolds showed the mons pubis or the labia, but in the 1970s, this started to change as the magazine displayed the mons pubis with natural pubic hair. Then the 1990s saw a shift toward pubic hair partially removed by shaving or waxing.

Since centerfolds with visible labia only appeared recently, Schick had to narrow down her search to photographs between 2007 and 2008 which show the mons pubis.

Out of 185 pictures, 19.5 percent showed altered but visible pubic hair, and 61.2 percent did not show any pubic hair: It was completely removed.

Less than half had visible labia majora, and within these, 82.2 percent showed no labia minora. The labia minora were visible in only 13 photos, and they were all colored pink or light red except in one.

It seems that the standard of female genital beauty, as advertised to Playboy’s mostly male readers, includes minimal or no pubic hair, invisible labia minora, and pink color. The problem lies in the fact that these features which are seemingly normative in the models are totally unnatural in the real world population.

Women’s genitals vary greatly in size, shape, color and amount of hair, and they even change over time.

The promotion of these unrealistic images — and a lack of education or exposure otherwise — can cause some women to think that their genitals are abnormal or ugly, and that they need genital cosmetic surgery like labiaplasty or vaginoplasty.

These procedures are not medically necessary, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and they carry risks like infection, scarring, pain or dryness which can later compromise sexual health and function.

I am not saying that no one should be allowed to get genital cosmetic surgery; it’s not my place to make that call. But women should not be fooled into believing that there is a typical or ideal form to the female genitals. Let’s appreciate their diversity.

After all, how boring would a one-vagina world be?

Perry Tsai is a columnist from The Daily Tar Heel. He is a second year medical student from New Orleans, LA. Contact him at perrytsai@gmail.com