Monday, September 3, 2007

Vaginal Rejuvenation Surgery; a bust?

Finally, the gears are a changin’. In a recent report, docs are saying that maybe vaginal rejuvenation is not the best form of cosmetic surgery a woman can opt for.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said “the procedures are not medically necessary and are not guaranteed to be safe as there is little known about their potential complications, such as infection, altered sensation, dyspareunia (pain), adhesions, and scarring.”

Indeed, the surgery, in which the labia is cut, stretched and redefined so that women can feel confident that they have a “normal” looking vagina, is not needed. More, the report talks about the way the procedure can also “amplify” the g-spot.

I have to say that I am weary of a process that magically gives women the ability to have an orgasm. Meaning, it is so much more than this amplification; it is about confidence, self-love. And I am not confident that a surgery will give this to women. Instead, it appears that the more a woman believes that there is a right and a wrong way to look and feel normal, the less likely it is that she will be able to rid her body and mind from the self-loathing ideas that continue to berate our sex/gender.

And while there are always exceptions to the rule – there may be a genetic issue, or other, that gives the process merit – for the most part women are lining up for the surgery because just like the beauty magazines beckoning women and men as they wait to pay for their groceries, the seed of perfection was planted by someone other than the patient herself.

Sure, we are all subject to the wraths of the media, in that it consistently exposes us to a variety of norms, but it is vital – and apparently death-defying – to filter through the messages and ask why. Why am I slicing up my vagina? Who is the end product for? Why am I ok with this?