The “I have to look like I am 20 forever” trend has now reached the lower regions apparently. The look they are changing is that of an older women or a women who has had children. When are women over 30 going to realize that being 40 is great, sure we don’t look like we once did, but neither do men. I wish our generation could just accept growing old gracefully. To me personally nothing looks more pathetic than a 40 or 40+ year old woman wearing clothes out of her daughters closet.

Dr. Fulbright takes “personal offense that we’re all supposed to look and feel a certain way in the sack.” And I fully agree! Yet, I think it is ironic that after Dr. Fulbright gave an endorsement over pornography use (two articles ago), she shows how pornography directly affects how women view their own bodies, and now their private parts as abnormal.

Dr. Fulbright, if you really think about it, pornography (like fashion magazines) pushes women to look ideal. So long as we endorse the objectification of women in fashion magazines and now in pornography, there will always be a constant pressure for women to starve and surgically mutilate themselves to look ideal.

I think that a future article about the psychological damage that pornography does on men as well as women would be a good idea.

I find this whole behavior rather bizarre. But, don’t blame porn for labial reduction….

Porn may favor women with large breasts but — with the exception of Playboy, which fears labia — it does not ‘discriminate’ against those with protruding labia. I have found quite the contrary in various magazines. So, while porn may encourage women to strive for unrealistic standards in regards to many physical aspects, in my years of research (albeit non-scientific), I have found nothing that would encourage women to seek vaginal augmentation. If anything, porn seems to promote prominent labia.

I agree with Rochelle. I think it’s terrible that women feel the need to adjust everything on their body, especially this! I’m in my late 20’s and my body doesn’t look like it did 5 or even 10 years and that’s okay. I just wish society didn’t put this pressure on women and we could love ourselves for the way we are.

Beef drapes

Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!

I cannot imagine going under a knife for these procedures. I do not understand why some women feel the need to do this. After all, really, there is nothing pretty about a man’s private parts, yet they all seem to be proud of how they look!

I could understand undergoing one of the procedures for medical reasons, but for just cosmetic? I’m completely baffled.

Finally, someone is fighting to rid the world of beefdrapes

Quit looking for someone or something to blame. A woman (or man) who gets plastic surgery of any kind is doing it for THEMSELVES not someone else. Using porn as an excuse is ludicrous at best. As Chris points out, porn in general has no problem with labia of any shape. Same with breasts. If you look you’ll find just as many small breasted women successfully doing hardcore as you will overinflated saggers. The bottom line is women do this to themselves for their own reasons. Blaming something else is just a copout. As far as tightness, yeah, I can understand that. After chugging out a series of kids it’s understandable that a woman could need a little tightening up, especially if her hubby isn’t built like a horse. Still her decision though. No one is forcing her. Take responsibility.

I think the link to porn is not as obvious as is the general state of sexual ‘being’ and media imagery in the United States.

Children are experimenting with sex at ever younger ages (in public even). Cell phone images of nude teens and children now are circulated to ’sell’ themselves as they search for partners. The are barraged with fashion and ‘perfect’ idols all the way down to kindergarten age these days.

Is it all that odd that our most private parts are now subject to glamor concepts? Hardly. Porn is almost irrelevant. It’s the amateur stuff that pervades the industry now and the women who participate there rarely are altered amny are using the venue to get money so porn is essentially what is always has been persuit of the taboo not perfection…

Men have been subject to ’sexual enhancement’ for YEARS, long before this fashion step among women. Men have been having major surgery to their private parts for decades and nobody really screams ‘butchery’ about that even though the results of the surgery’s are about the same as what Dr. Fulbright points out among women. Why? Because men are meant to feel inferior if their genitals aren’t of elephantine proportions (as shown in porn so that link is probably true for men.)

It’s my prediction that sexual activity will continue to rise down to ages where it no longer shocks us. The idea of the ‘perfect’ physique will continue among both men and women until we all look like Venus or Apollo. There will bo no ‘innocence’ of a child anymore as they are exposed to these stylized looks of people, they wonder why, and when it’s explained, they want to figure it out for themselves.

Many nations are already well down these paths. They are seeing increased suicide rates among teens as they can’t cope with the realities of their existance. Those nations have no more porn than we do, but their morals concerning sex are more relaxed.

So, it’s possible, maybe probable that pornography is a reflection of the taboo, not perfection. I’d theorize that Fashion and Fitness have more drive on this genital thing than does porn. After all, only the rich can really afford surgeries like this, and guess what, the wealthy aren’t the major consumers of pornography, they are however, the ones with the idol time to consume fashion and fitness at astounding rates.

The next generations of women, growing up now, will probably take this trend to levels that we can’t even imagine at this point. You can also bet that they will be vastly more experienced with sex and be attempting to ‘perfect’ themselves. You decide if that’s a good or bad thing.

It is an unfortunate thing that women see themselves as unattractive on the most beloved areas of a woman’s body! I don’t understand why women don’t realize that most of the pictures they see in the magazines and in the movies are not real, they are digitally enhanced or airbrushed to look a certain way. I think women are beautiful, no matter how big their labia are or how small

Odd that some of these problems exist because women, for god-knows-what reason, seem to think that shaving their pubises bare is stylish. I would estimate that the number of women who look attractive with bare vulvas is about one in fifty (probably a teeny bit more rare than the attractive bald-headed man, but half of us don’t care whether bald-headed men are attractive)… All, I suppose, due to the influence of porn on personal style. One hopes sanity eventually prevails here…

What is this business about society reaching a new low, as if I somehow play a role in this silliness, or am supposed to play a role in correcting it? Well, news flash: people are allowed to be as stupid or as intelligent as they want to be, and their choices have nothing to do with me. Turning to society to fix problems is like turning to the government for a paycheck. In either case, you receive the lowest possible benefit. Perhaps churches or various support groups can make available some literature to interested people on ways to better understand the self image. This is part of these organizations’ purpose for existence. But expecting this dynamic, diverse amalgam of people of all stamps called “society” to take ownership for idiocy such as elective cometic surgery is nonsense.

RR makes an excellent point. News media have a habit of placing the blame for moronic actions (not necessarily referring to this case, I must add) on “society”, as if we all voted on it beforehand…

Some of us actually like Big Beef Curtains.

As a typical male……..I like women to be natural…… I’m happy just to get there……unless you need it for more sensitity, or medical needs……leave it alone !

Well said RR ! This is another fine example of “point the finger”. How about some individual responsibility ? Don’t blame porn. Don’t blame society. Most normal people just except who they are, or work to make the most out of what God gave them. In the words of the great prophet Forrest Gump, “Stupid is as stupid does”.

I agree with Bolivar - the female trend of having zero pubic hair surely contributes to this…and I find the full shave trend utterly disturbing to begin with. There is something strangely pedophilic about it - I was listening yesterday to a bunch of DJ’s yucking it up on the air over this topic, and one of them mentioned the argument that it looks like a 10-year-old girl - the response was a bunch of enthusiastic “Well, YEAH!’s” UGH. Then they want to talk about how utterly repulsive it is for women to be anything but fully bare down there. I’ve heard this on more than one radio show and/or read in more than one article/magazine. No WONDER women are going and getting all of this elective butchery done.

And hey, I’m not gonna lie - after a few kids, in a fantasy world it sounds darn appealing to get things “tightened up”…but in reality, no thanks. And that’s a little different than this appearance driven surgery, I just find that ridiculous. I dread what appearance-related pressures my five-year-old daughter will face when she comes of age. Good lord, now even women’s genitals are not sacred and are up for criticism. There’s really nowhere else to go, I suppose - pretty much hit rock bottom.

Women need to wise up. Don’t butcher your bodies in he pursuit of what the porn industry deems is beautiful. Speaking for the majority of men, we love what we see (and feel) on you down there and hey, variety is the spice of life. Stay yourself and stay away from these hacks who would even do this type of ‘cosmetic’ surgery.

My husband foolishly made the comment one day after viewing porn with a friend how they (the girls) are the “kind you only dream about.” Yeah. Well, imagine his surprise when I told him, guess what? They have make-up on. Do ya really think they look like that? I don’t think so. It had never occurred to him. I am sick and tired of being made to feel less than simply because I’m normal. And hey…no amount of make-up can improve on the appearance of guy parts.

And PS. Why is it the women who feel they need to change? Think about it.

Up till now I always thought that a woman taking care of herself down there had to do with whether or not she wanted to go natural and let the hair fly, go Brazilian and shave it off or whether or not to have a thin or wide landing strip. I just feel lucky to be able to see down there at all.

I have to agree with those who argue that blaming pornography is a cop-out. Whenever you ask people who have undergone elective cosmetic surgery why they did it the answer most commonly given is to improve their confidence. I think it’s safe to say that no matter what the percentage increase in “designer vagina” procedures, it’s still a tiny fraction of the number of women who watch of porn. Therefore the underlying issue is not access to pornography but rather the indivduals concerned self-esteem. Also, I find it strange that Dr. Fulbright omits the identical trend in male genital surgery. If the spam in my inbox (hmm…for clarity that’s not meant to be a euphemism of any kind!) is anything to go by then that particular market is booming.

To have any hope of addressing these kind of issues we need to look at the underlying cause which is our all too common tendency to associate our genitals with shame at a young age. For example, the parent who shouts at and slaps a child for touching themselves rather than calmly explaining that it’s not appropriate to do that around others risks passing on sexual issues from generation to generation. If the sexual organs are associated with being “wrong”, even subconsciously, and then later in life one sees (whether in pornography, the changing room, or wherever) somebody else’s who look somewhat different then the potential negative outcomes are plain to see.

Pornography is one of the most consumer driven industries there is, primarily because if there’s something a big studio isn’t providing then two people and a handycam can have it shot, edited and online in about a day. Barely-there vaginas and oversized penises feature in a lot of pornography but then so do the obese and dwarves. There is a lot wrong with the porn industry but one of the things that’s right about it is that it is (utterly by commercial necessity) completely open about sexuality. Would that the rest of us be so open I suspect there would be a lot fewer people so down on themselves as to undergo serious surgery for something so trivial.

Sadly I know we aren’t joking about this. How have we become so self-obsessed that we feel it necessary to have such radical procedures done. Better that people had a personality inplanted.

I have had Vaginoplast and also Vulvar Lipoplasty. Why because when i was had my first child the Drs did not repair me right. I had a third degree tear into my hip which the Dr never repaired right. It was hard to use a tampon. If you need it medically these procedures are great. It made my sex life 100 times better to feel whole agian and able to feel like other women do. Before you say bad things about it understand there are some women who need these procedure and yes they are the ones who have had children and are older now. There is nothing wrong with taking charge of your body. and if you can make it better then why not. It is each women choice it is our bodies, so if you do not like it then do not do it ! Thank goodness that there are Drs who understand women issues and are willing to help.

Dated a lady who’d had her ‘hood’ trimmed, but it was against her wishes. Seems the MD and her husband talked about it and decided it was a good idea. Oh and that husband became EX-husband shortly thereafter.

It caused her much discomfort for a long time. The only good thing is the OB/GYN who did this has since had his license revoked. When I heard that I wondered how many other women he had harmed.

For those who don’t think that pornography doesn’t influence vaginal cosmetic surgery, do you also apply that same logic to fashion magazines and women’s issues with their body in anorexia/bulimia, and the rise in plastic surgery, botox among the young?

Unfortunately for women who undergo cosmetic procedures to change the look of their vulva, they’re making a huge mistake. Virtually every man I know (and have asked about this) report the same feeling: They like women who have large labia and clitoral features. For men the visual part of sex is a big thing. A woman’s private parts are the source of that visual package. When women reduce the size and shape of their labia or clitoris area, they’re removing the exact visual treat men are seeking. The physical anatomy of women prevents men from enjoying their lover’s private parts visually unless they’re in the act of making love. After the anticipation and trusting atmosphere for lovemaking is established (where men anticipate this visual treat) the unique features of each woman’s vulva and clitoris is the reward. Not a cookie-cutter uniformly shaped vulva chosen from a catalog. If that’s the future of women’s intimate features, the men I know aren’t interested. Just as men love to ogle magazines with women’s breasts prominently displayed (because each are unique) the same applies to other private areas. Let nature be as intended. Each person is unique, that’s the source of attraction. Not a designer-shaped private area.

You notice no one is talking about nipping or tucking male genitalia. It is unfortunate that women feel pressured to alter their genitals for aesthetic purposes to appeal to men. If it is because of discomfort that is a differnt issue.

From a man who isn’t trimming himself or asking his wife to…

I don’t see what the problem is. These are adult women making decisions for their own bodies. More power to them.

On the other hand, as a male, I got a designer penis at birth and had absolutely no choice in the matter. If you want to be concerned about genital cutting in America, check out your local maternity ward.

I was shocked at my last OB/GYN appointment when my Doctor, this was my first and last visit with him, suggested plastic surgery on my labia. He said that it was his job as a professional to let me know that they were a little larger than normal. What is normal after having two children naturally? HELLO MCFLY! My husband has never complained and I just wanted to unleash on him, the Dr, a few choice words and then tell him to pull down his pants so I could look at his genitals and critique them.
Needless to say I am not going to be getting the surgery. Yes if medically you need the surgery then KUDOS to you for getting it taken care of. For the rest of us, I think we need to take a stand…Enough is enough!

paolo exactly my thoughts first she says porn is wonderful now she blames it, gee like I needed her to finally tell me it is harmful on all fronts it seems!

GOOD LIKE GOD MADE IT - I find this idea, that many women seem to have; that the ideal look ‘down there’ is that of a ten year old girl, odd and disturbing. Being a long time frequenter of men’s clubs I have noticed thestrange, progressive disappearance of pubic hair for some time. Forty hears ago; hair on: heads, faces, armpits and pubes went untrimmed. Later decades produced what some refer to as the ‘Hitler Look” with the pubic hair being reduced to a small patch above the genitals. Now the dancers at the clubs talk about have the ‘beef’ trimmed from their labia and their annus ‘bleached’ to look prettier. What’s wrong with these parts just as God made them? Nothing, in my oppinion. Along with an obsession with ‘freshness’ meaning a revulsion for any detecable natural scent; I believe this is a symptom of a poor self image and shame in ones body and sexuality. Pity Men actually like women the way God made them.

SFG,

Actually, men do get their genitals nipped and tucked. You just don’t think about it because it was chosen for you and done at birth. And unfortunately, American men who are fortunate enough to have all their God-given parts are often asked by shallow, ignorant women to get a trim.

I am one of those women who is very self concious about my down there appearance, and I have considered surgery. I guess I feel like I’m not normal, because according to society, normal looks like hot dog buns. And from what I’ve seen and from what others have told me, any thing other than that is gross or unattractive. Maybe I am wrong. Who knows.

The doctor says this: “as a woman, I take personal offense that we’re all supposed to look and feel a certain way in the sack.” ?????

Who says you are *supposed* to? Not me. At age 58, I may be old school, but I am sickened by the idea that women would undergo this kind of surgery for cosmetic reasons.

I also hate boob jobs, think tummy tucks are barbaric, and figure that men and women should take care of themselves physically for their own health and for the sake of their appearance and that their lovers should love them for who they are. If your current lover doesn’t love you, choose again. Just say no to dumb surgery.

Close to half the men in the United States have been subjected to a “clitoral hood reduction” as helpless infants only it is called “circumcision”.

As a man in my mid-40’s now, I am saddened and disgusted that women are being subjected so consistently to images of what they “should” look like. Realize,please, that these images come from the porn and modeling (soft-porn) worlds, and are foisted upon women by men (and some women) with a twisted and warped view of what a woman should look like.

Being honest, I’ve had more than 30 sexual partners in my life, although the first 30 or so were before I got married. Every one of them, every woman I saw naked had her own proportions, her own beauty, her own physical identity, and I very much liked each one of them as they were, just as I like my wife as she is today.

Women, stop allowing “perfection” to be dictated to you by perverted men and women who think they know what a perfect body is. We real men, we like you as you are.

Honestly have gay men taken over this business in addition to fashion?

After all it’s their INability to see women as sexually attractive as they are that results in such extremes in the fashion industry. They do everything to eliminate the obvious feminine traits models have.

I’d honestly wonder about a man’s true sexual attraction if he strongly preferred women who went through such procedures for “cosmetic reasons alone.”

When it comes to sexual attraction, straight or gay, men are men and men are pigs. In the moment, these things simply do NOT matter. If a man’s mind focuses on this I’d have to wonder if it’s a diversionary tactic to make a woman not wonder about his “issues.”

Bigger breasts are one thing (as long as not extreme) but genital cosmetic surgery - ummm only a gay man would think or a man with suppressed homosexual leanings could think that any part of a woman’s anatomy needs “cosmetic” improvement due to unattractiveness.

Sexual desire and attraction are so overwhelming that it is attractive as is, any other reaction should make a woman wonder just how straight her male partner is — and I say this as a gay man.

you know I have heard of this for several years. Saw it discussed on certain cable surgery shows and you know I can never finish an article or keep watching it. I cring in my seat. (I imagine how a man would cringe at the thought of getting hit it the jewels) absolutely distribing. Obviously for some tramatic event I could see needing a surgery, but for cosmetic purposes I think they should maybe start with these peoples heads.

i think any form of body modification is stupid. and dont blame society for being self conscious. thats just an excuse for vanity. anybody who sees somebody better looking is gonna feel inadequate in some way. it’s a natural human reaction. people have been changing there God-given bodies as far back as history goes. read some books. it’s not just “our society” or “this day in age”. and it’s not the tv’s fault, all men’s fault. it’s peoples weakness. take some responsibily.

Excellent point and very constructive to direct the person seeking the surgery to reevaluate their sense of self-esteem and empower themselves for who they are rather than who they feel they should be. Too often we see people blaming the “media” for “unfair” or “unrealistic” images that “force” women to undergo such physical changes but, it is not the fault of those in the arbitrary “media” for using pressures of inadequacy to direct their actions, it is their fault for allowing those pressures to make them act. My only complaint is that you did not, and never have I have noticed, spoke out against the cosmetic surgeries men undergo due to the same pressures of inadequacy thrown at them. Enlargements of various sorts are just the tip of the iceberg in their case. Address that issue as well and you may find your articles getting forwarded by me to my entire address book.

Well, our society’s penchant for “Brazilians” was bound to go extreme sooner or later, as was our love of “having work done.” Too much is apparently never enough. I mean, hey — there are mens’ briefs on the market that basically lift and separate, and I do know guys who’ve undergone circumcision as adults because they thought it would make them more attractive. Nothing is sacred.

In a general sense, it seems only fair that women should be made to question the state of their genital affairs. Afterall, it seems quite common for men to be told bigger is always better and if you’re not happy with your current sex life, it must be because you need this pill or that procedure to make your woman/partner happier in bed–or some other intimate location. All of these adds are shameful in that they play upon individuals’ feelings of inadequacy and do little to address any underlying self-esteem issues or distorted perceptions.

any man who would care about any of this is terribly disturbed male who places emphasis on vanity over substance….as is any woman who gives a damn!

I don’t like the idea of genital surgery for cosmetic reasons, but I wouldn’t berate a woman for her choices either. I do think it’s sad, but so are a lot of things that women are subjected to/pressured into. The idea of vaginal tightening though… has anyone ever considered that more friction during sex feels good for the WOMAN? That maybe she wants a tighter vagina because SHE enjoys how it feels? Sometimes kegel exercises don’t have much affect after a traumatic childbirth. Or she’s just lazy, oh well. Still, it doesn’t have to be only about men. I do sets of kegels as a part of my whole body exercising and I’m thankful that they work for me.

As a faithful “sexpert” column reader, I must point out that Fulbright never stated that porn was wonderful. She never came out as for it. She just suggested that women not give their guys slack for his enjoyment of such. Sure it was vague, but there’s truth to it and she certainly wasn’t advocating anything - simply dealing w/ the reality that some guys take a peak every now and then. And that it shouldn’t necessarily make or break a relationship. A body image issue regarding one’s genitals certainly can.

I’m shocked! Shocked I tell you! American OB/Gyns are finally seeing the revenue stream of female genital mutilation—since infant male genital mutilation is such a cash cow for American OB/Gyns already, imagine how rich these penis cutters will become now?

One person doing someting stupid is a fool.
A group of people doing something stupid is a society of fools.
I think, imho, America is become a society of fools.

You’ve GOT to be kidding me…