The Australian “Tharunka”- Magazine put out a nice article about how labiaplasty relates to Female Genital Cutting. In the end they are not so different after all. Of course it makes a difference if you perform surgery on non-consenting minors or on adult women, but ultimately its often done for the same reason: beautification. To put it in their words:

If all motivations are stripped to their rudimentary reasoning, female genital surgery in and out of the West both stem from an identical basis.

And it gets problematic if women in western societies grow up with the wrong standards. Do these adult women really always know what they are doing? When the ask for surgery to correct what seems to be “freakish”, when in fact it is totally normal.

I thought I was a freak and I was desperate for him to never see me naked. Now I’ve had it (labiaplasty) done and I now know what a ‘normal’ vagina looks like, I wish I’d not wasted the $4500 getting it done. I was actually very ‘normal’ all along. I’m so bitter and angry with society that myself and other girls are being caused so much psychological damage for something that is completely unnecessary.”

read more here: http://tharunka.arc.unsw.edu.au/labiaplasty-and-female-genital-cutting-not-so-different/

She wears her heart on her sleeve and her vag on her back

http://oregoneyes.tumblr.com/post/5879415763

Feminists walk among you…

[Feminist Friday] Do I call myself a feminist or not?.

One Billion Rising has been a great success! But seriously, that should be only the beginning. But what it tells us is that we can make a difference if we stand together and act together.

Read more here: http://onebillionrising.org/

Labiaplasty — the procedure that clips off portions of a woman’s labia minor (the inner lips of her vulva) so that she looks more like a pristine porn star — is the most common “vaginal rejuvenation” surgery. One Southern California doctor says his most popular procedure is “The Barbie,” which whacks out the entire labia minora so that only the outer labia are visible, as smooth as plastic. Dr. Red Alinsod:

“I had been doing more conservative labiaplasties before then,” he says. “But I kept getting patients who wanted almost all of it off. They would come in and say, I want a ‘Barbie.’ So I developed a procedure that would give them this comfortable, athletic, petite look, safely.”

Read more here: http://jezebel.com/5977025/unhappy-with-your-gross-vagina-why-not-try-the-barbie

+++ Sign the petition here: http://www.change.org/petitions/australian-classification-board-change-classification-guidelines +++

What’s it about:

Labiaplasty has become a recent trend in cosmetic surgery and an increasing number of women want their labia to be reduced, even if they are of normal size and appearance. This is something like money machine for private surgeons: exploiting female doubts about their bodies by selling them surgeries they don’t need. Instead of restricting such a practice, the government is actively reinforcing the practice in the name of morals an decency. As it turns out, the National Classification Board of Australia has a guideline which says that depictions of the female labia “should be very discreet.” In practice, magazines and other media that depict nudity and want to be publicly available will photoshop the labia away, making it look very smooth and clean.

“ACP Extra spokeswoman Kylie Potter can’t explain why it’s okay to show an unadulterated penis. But she says the OFLC claims the public finds female genitalia offensive unless it ‘looks clean and tidy’. Potter tells us the OFLC calls it a ‘healed crease’ when technology is used to tidy up photographs for public consumption.”

Or, as Brad Boxall, publisher of ACP Extra, which publishes “The Picture” and “People” put it:

“Daily, we have to use technology to smooth, erase and ensure no member of the public will be presented with anything resembling real female genitalia.”

These will be the only depictions of the female genitalia most young girls get in contact with. In the name of morality, these women and girls are directly tricked to alter their genitalia to a more “normal” look.

So, ladies, you say you want a raise? How should you go about getting it?

First, you have to figure out how to compete with the guy in the next cubicle. After all, he went to a school almost as good as yours. His grades were nearly as good as yours, too. He works hard. In fact, most mornings, he’s the second person in the office. You know this, because you’re always first. He is young, ruggedly good looking, and he washes his balls with a manly but fresh sandalwood soap.

What to do?

Fortunately, the good folks at Women’s Day and Summer’s Eve have a few words of advice for you.

What is the very first thing you should consider if you want a raise? What is the most important thing of all?

Yup, wash that vagina, and wash it good. Remember the sandalwood-scented balls. You don’t want any, ahem, untoward odors to interfere with your chances, do you? What’s that you say? You don’t have an odor problem? You’re clean, you bathe regularly, and you don’t really need advice to use a product that “cleanses away odor-causing bacteria from the external vaginal area?” What are you, a barbarian? This is a raise you’re talking about.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/08/26/896386/-Want-a-raise-Wash-your-vagina – “Want a raise? Wash your vagina.” – Daily Kos

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