Genital Cosmetic Surgery
The importance of appearance for dating and mating, particularly for women, points to another domain apart from the stereotype about age and facial wrinkles. There is overwhelming evidence that attractiveness influences woman’s romantic experiences. Although some aspects of attractiveness, such as preferences for perfect body weight, shape and measurements are culturally constructed, many other requirements may be biologically and psychologically constructed and connected to physical and mental health. One such standard that seems to evaluate attractiveness in women in the modern world is the appearance of private parts.
Genital cosmetic surgery on women has increased as much as other cosmetic procedures and more physicians are now offering procedures to enhance genital features. As the attitudes toward these procedures are increasingly favorable and pretty pleases in personal relationships, genital cosmetic surgery has provided individuals bothered by their genital appearance a solution, and researcher such as one from Macquarie University is hoping to find the exact reason for motivation behind the decision to undergo these surgeries, despite any significant illness.
Plastic surgeons and other physicians involved with cosmetic procedures are packing various conferences and surveys to learn more about lesbians and straight women who opt for genital cosmetic surgery. Anthropology PhD student Lindy McDougall who is conducting an Australia-wide study regarding this, is urging women to participate in surveys and take her research to a significant step further based on the survey result. She gathered information from doctors which indicate that when lesbians have surgery, usually both girls agree with the decision, while hetero women do the “correction” to improve their self-esteem and doesn’t involve their partner’s approval. According to her, higher levels of attractiveness achieved through cosmetic surgery are associated with higher levels of life satisfaction, a more positive and balanced affect, and a substantial impact after marriage, but for a woman to decide on labiaplasty and vaginal tightening, the reason is much complex than that.
Although not well understood, genital cosmetic surgery among women can be a means of achieving favoritism with current or potential partners, and some regard the surgery as a tool to assert some control over their visible signs of aging, especially for single women who face an increasingly tight “dating and marriage market” as they age. As a matter of fact, plastic surgery in this field has come a long way since practitioners engaged in cosmetic work catered basically to celebrities, professional beauties and upper-class women, overcoming ethical dilemmas.
