| Room 524-B | Oral Presentations - Sexuality and Body Modification Thursday, July 14, 2005 Time: 9:30 AM-10:30 AM |
Creating the 'perfect' sexual body? Female genital cosmetic surgery.
Braun, Virginia*,1, 1 The University of Auckland, Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
ABSTRACT- Women's (unmodified) genitalia have often been considered taboo or tainted, and female genital modifications are widespread and diverse. They range from limited pubic hair removal through to extreme forms of genital cutting, with some practices virtually mandatory in some cultural contexts, but uncommon or prohibited in others. One practice in the west (and beyond) which has recently gained considerable media attention is what has been dubbed the 'designer vagina'. The term 'designer vagina' refers to a vulva or vagina altered surgically for aesthetic (and/or functional) purposes. It covers a range of surgical procedures, including reduction of the labia minora (labiaplasty), vaginal tightening, hymen reconstruction, and liposuction of the pubic mound. By various accounts, such surgical procedures are increasing in popularity. This presentation aims to examine the contemporary phenomenon of the 'designer vagina', through an examination of media representations of 'designer vagina' surgery, and interviews with 15 surgeons who do the procedures. The presentation draws on social constructionist theorising and discursive psychology. Representations of the designer vagina offer sites to examine various debates about sex and sexual pleasure, surgical 'enhancement', the 'medicalisation' of sexuality, free choice and agency versus cultural coercion, and consumer culture. My critical examination of representations of the designer vagina shows that genital surgery is seen to result in a body and mind that produces, or allows for, more sexual pleasure, on the part of the woman, and a more clearly demarcated gendered body (and identity). In this context, the 'free choice' of surgery is generally framed as a good choice for women, and one that will sexually and socially liberate them. This surgery, like cosmetic surgery generally, is framed as about transformation and identity, and of fixing the body to fit a perception of how it should be. As the 'designer vagina' is represented as a viable, legitimate solution to women who do not 'like' the appearance of their genitalia, or who wish to achieve an improved sexual function, I finish this presentation by raising questions of 'where to now' for women's experiences and understandings of their genitalia and of sex.
Key words: women's genitalia, cosmetic surgery, medicalisation of sex, media, psychology