Oh. God. That article left me struggling to express my thoughts in words instead of a frustrated howl.

In practical terms, the most serious offense is that this surgery is dangerous and the doctor isn't even trying to change that ("Dr. Matlock says he has been reluctant to submit studies for publication in medical journals because he does not want to reveal his techniques.")

In a broader look at it: What the FUCK have we come to if women are obsessing over how their vulvas look, and paying ridiculous amounts of money to get them improved?! And it's dangerous and temporary.

Oh, wait but it's our own fault, of course: "There's a need for this," he [Matlock] said. "Women are driving this. I didn't create this market, the market was there."

Yeah, that's right. It's just one more example of women being mean to eachother. I even started a Pretty Vaginas club in High School.

Gods, this makes me so incredibly sad. Women, undergoing expensive, painful surgery for what? I got angry, then I cried, after that I shook my head sadly and thought 'Gods, there's nothing we can do about it'

This mindset, this fear, is so infective, it's so contagious and I have no idea how to make it stop. We can tackle the stuff at the higher levels, we can fight anti-choice folks and fight for equal pay, but how in the hell do we fight this?

Personally, my belief is that this stems, in large part, from pornography. And I just don't see it going away until porn goes away, and gods know that we'll never make THAT go away.

Mostly, it just makes me feel so incredibly lost and sad and, I hate to admit it, but last night I cried. I leaned my head on my S.O's shoulder and asked him if I'm destined to die with the same worth I was born with, that worth being my sexuality. It just all feels so hopeless when I see all the manifestations of this patriarchial mindset and sometimes I wish I could hide back in the closet and forget all of it. *sigh*

How in the hell have other feminists on this board dealt with the feeling that it's all so overwhelming and hopeless? More importantly, am I the only one who has felt this way? I get so angry sometimes and that is often quickly followed by sadness and an overwhelming feeling that it'll never happen. That true equality will never occur.

Has anyone else felt that way?

(to answer bitingbeaver) Don't cry!

I deal with it via the phrase 'don't let the bastards get you down'. Don't give away any power by seeing yourself as a helpless victim - that's what the misogynists want you to do. Stand up and kick. Be aware of the real world around you as well as what you can read about, you need the awareness and knowledge, and fight to change what you can, but don't drain yourself, and don't give the jerks your time and energy, emotional or otherwise. Give that to people and work that you value, that makes you and those you love stronger.

(this attitude got me no dates until I was 18, but this was fine with me).

Yes, it's sad that some women are so uncomfortable and fearful about their bodies that they will have inpatient surgery done to change them, but that is their lives and their money and their mental illness - I cry much more for the women who suffer 'female circumcision' against their wills as young girls.

Anyway, how many women do you know or have even heard of who would do such a thing? Remember the media loves to magnify and sensationalize. I mean geez, I've never slept with a man who wasn't thrilled just to see a real live naked woman. And they'd seen their share of porn, they were just smart enough to appreciate the difference between cartoons and reality, and prefer reality.

Writing about it, talking about it, working to create a society where women and girls can easily find voices that tell them they're beautiful as they are, vocally supporting anything that shows natural healthy normal women, we can do all that.

You aren't helpless and your worth isn't defined by your sexuality. Look at women you admire, and any women who have made successful happy lives and careers for themselves as outspoken creative active individuals. Read what they've had to say - I love memoirs. Jane Addams was one of my first eye openers - that woman accomplished incredible things, made social changes that we still benefit from, and all in a much stricter society, while wearing a corset (not a very tightly laced one, I'm sure).

I once read a quote (can't remember the woman's name) that said the most feminist thing a woman can do is stop hating her body. Amen, alas.

damn, U can't let shit get u down. LIfe is good. Get up early one morning and watch a sunrise. each day is a rebirth and creates opportunity for new life, new horizons, and new possibilities!!!

Wow! I mean, are we done now? Can we all just go home? That's it, right? Have we AT LAST reached the final frontier of women's vanity!? You can't get more infatuated with yourself than this can you!? Designer pussies!? We've got the perfumes all ready, you can get the diamond stud, tighten it up a lil bit make it look like a Prada bag, top it off with a butterfly tribal and some glitter and you're off! Not that I'm one to judge...women's choice to do what they want with their bodies y'know?

The overtones of this article and the media coverage of this operation are really misleading. I haven't a clue who the surgeon featured in this article is. I have never heard of him. I do not advertise this operation as a "designer" anything. I call it a reduction.

Surgeons performing these procedures do not practice on animal parts to my knowledge. I never did. I have changed my operation based upon the feedback of my patients. It has improved. That is the practice of medicine. To not learn based upon outcomes is a sign of poor intelligence.

My patients tell me the operation was not nearly as uncomfortable as they had thought it would be. They are "sore" for a few days to a week.

These ladies usually entertain the procedure because they feel uncomfortable in certain clothing or embarrassed. This is usually tight fitting clothing showing a bulge "down there." Rubbing when you are large can be a bother.

When specifically asked, they do not tell me that men were the reason for this. Their partners usually tell them not to do it for them. This seems appropriate.

Given the opportunity my patients indicate that they would have it again and that it increased their libido. They complain of no sensory problems.

You can look at the internal reasons that these statements may be true, but they are.

Best Regards,

-JPD

I agree with having labiaplasty done because it helps with the girls' self-esteem. I mean, now that there's something you can do about it, then why not, if you have the money? ... Plastic surgery is out there and if you can and want to get something done ... then do it to feel better about yourself...

I agree with having labiaplasty done because it helps with the girls' self-esteem.

I think the broader issue is that we're actually at a point, supposedly, where one's self-esteem depends on what their crotch looks like.

I look at it this way - even though the trend of women feeling as if they have to resemble porn stars is common today, and it is a VERY real concern that I do think is disgusting, what's the main consequence/purpose of it? To gain the attention of men.

There's no male on the planet who is worth that kind of personal expense and, more importantly, the second-guessing of a woman's self-worth. I hate to oversimplify the matter, but I think it really is that simple - why obtain an operation on your genitals unless you're trying to improve yourself sexually (in an aesthetic sense)? Of course, it reaches farther than there, mostly telling of self-esteem issues past just the subject of sex, but looking at the problem in a more localised sense, I think the solution is evident:

Emphasis should totally be taken OFF relationships, mating, romance as a form of acceptance. I've stuck to a very strict philosophy most of my life; it's sometimes easier said than done, but when you contemplate the potential consequences, I think the healthiest thing any woman can do is tell herself, "I'd rather be alone than unhappy." And that doesn't just apply to problems within a relationship itself, but to ANYTHING regarding relationships, including the pursuit of them. No man is worth pain, great monetary expense, and potential health risks associated with cosmetic surgeries. I've never given a rip what any plastic surgeon or cosmetic surgery customer has to say about the process, how supposedly "safe" it is - you're still allowing someone to basically mutilate you, break bones, remove flesh, and all for the purpose of thinking that surgery is going to salve a lack of self-esteem. And if anyone notices you more AFTER a surgery than they did beforehand - ha, then good luck. They obviously weren't worth it in the first place, but you've just fooled yourself into thinking they were. You've just removed your litmus test by altering yourself for them.

I'd go the rest of my life without love or romance or anything of the sort before I would make such dangerous, drastic changes over a man. It would be nice if pornography would generally die out, but I agree that that will probably never happen. So I say women need to make the plastic, nipped-and-tucked doppelgangers of themselves die out. As far as I'm concerned, men can ogle and drool over porn stars all they want - if we refuse to supply them with the object of their fantasies, then I think some of the smarter ones will realise they should really stop teasing themselves with something they'll never have. They'll either accept us as we are, or they'll be stuck with their porn movies and a lubed palm.

I look at it this way - even though the trend of women feeling as if they have to resemble porn stars is common today, and it is a VERY real concern that I do think is disgusting, what's the main consequence/purpose of it? To gain the attention of men.

There's no male on the planet who is worth that kind of personal expense and, more importantly, the second-guessing of a woman's self-worth. I hate to oversimplify the matter, but I think it really is that simple - why obtain an operation on your genitals unless you're trying to improve yourself sexually (in an aesthetic sense)? Of course, it reaches farther than there, mostly telling of self-esteem issues past just the subject of sex, but looking at the problem in a more localised sense, I think the solution is evident:

Emphasis should totally be taken OFF relationships, mating, romance as a form of acceptance. I've stuck to a very strict philosophy most of my life; it's sometimes easier said than done, but when you contemplate the potential consequences, I think the healthiest thing any woman can do is tell herself, "I'd rather be alone than unhappy." And that doesn't just apply to problems within a relationship itself, but to ANYTHING regarding relationships, including the pursuit of them. No man is worth pain, great monetary expense, and potential health risks associated with cosmetic surgeries. I've never given a rip what any plastic surgeon or cosmetic surgery customer has to say about the process, how supposedly "safe" it is - you're still allowing someone to basically mutilate you, break bones, remove flesh, and all for the purpose of thinking that surgery is going to salve a lack of self-esteem. And if anyone notices you more AFTER a surgery than they did beforehand - ha, then good luck. They obviously weren't worth it in the first place, but you've just fooled yourself into thinking they were. You've just removed your litmus test by altering yourself for them.

I'd go the rest of my life without love or romance or anything of the sort before I would make such dangerous, drastic changes over a man. It would be nice if pornography would generally die out, but I agree that that will probably never happen. So I say women need to make the plastic, nipped-and-tucked doppelgangers of themselves die out. As far as I'm concerned, men can ogle and drool over porn stars all they want - if we refuse to supply them with the object of their fantasies, then I think some of the smarter ones will realise they should really stop teasing themselves with something they'll never have. They'll either accept us as we are, or they'll be stuck with their porn movies and a lubed palm.

Cool, I've got a Big! Lots vagina!