I’d like us to try and exercise together
in psychology when a person finds an
object or an experience scary or
difficult to face we gradually expose
them to this object so they get used to
it bit by bit and no longer fear it and
it seems that we as a society find it
very difficult to talk about women’s
genitals in an open and honest way so
I’d like us to try this exercise
together now please repeat after me say
vagina okay now that was easy that’s
great but I’m pretty sure that wasn’t
the case for everyone here so I’d like
to try it again please say vagina okay
so that time was probably a little bit
easier than the first but I’d like to
try it again just twice more please say
vagina vagina great so now you’re
feeling a bit more comfortable saying
the word vagina but what about an entire
conversation on this topic and that’s
where we as a society really struggle
and researchers think that this lack of
open discussion about a perfectly normal
body part particularly around how it’s
supposed to look may be fueling the
world’s fastest growing cosmetic surgery
trend
labiaplasty also known as designer
vagina surgery now in the united states
in the last five years alone there has
been a 500% increase in the number of
labiaplasty x’ performed and what this
procedure does is reduce the size of the
inner lips of the vagina known as the
labia minora so they no longer protrude
beyond the outer vaginal lips known as
the labia majora and what this does is
creates a smooth genital surface just
like a Barbie doll because as we
see Barbie has no genital features
whatsoever we also talked about this
surgery colloquially as turning an
outtie vagina into an innie vagina yes
these aren’t just terms reserved to
describe belly buttons anymore and while
the medical research is gradually
accumulating in this field because it’s
still a relatively new procedure we
still don’t know the long-term safety
and efficacy like what happens to these
women when they go through menopause and
their vaginal tissue naturally thins and
driers
not to mention that labiaplasty is
associated with some pretty serious side
effects like infection scarring and even
loss of sensation and so it’s pretty
concerning that at least some women
think that they’re perfectly healthy
outer labia minora tissue is so
unacceptable that it needs to be
permanently removed through surgery
in fact many girls and women have
fundamental misunderstandings about
their own genital appearance in case you
weren’t sure there are actually two
openings in the female genital region
there’s the urethra where urine flows
out and the vagina where menstrual blood
flows out they’re not the same passage
but is this fundamental misunderstanding
about basic anatomy really so surprising
we hardly encourage young girls to
explore or ask questions about their own
genital Anatomy instead on the rare
occasions that we do talk to them about
it we tend to use cute euphemisms like
lady garden or flower or even just down
there to avoid using the proper terms
and so young girls are getting the
message that this is a very private part
of their body that they need to keep
hidden and certainly need to avoid
touching and it’s no wonder that girls
are growing up thinking that their
genitals are shameful embarrassing and
sometimes even ugly
a young girl may become particularly
concerned about her labia minora
appearance when she goes through puberty
because her labia will start to grow
just like the rest of her body is
growing at this stage her labia may
appear more prominent and one side may
grow faster than the other this may
prompt her to look on the internet for
an explanation for this change in her
genital appearance rather than having a
potentially embarrassing conversation
with a family member friend or health
professional and rather than finding
reassurance about her genital appearance
on the Internet
she’s likely to come across labiaplasty
as a relatively simple and easy solution
to her perceived problems with her
genital appearance and sadly this is
meant that girls as young as 9 are
requesting labiaplasty message these
young girls are not receiving is that
their prominent and asymmetrical labia
at puberty may just balance out their
genital appearance is meant to shift
away from that pre-pubertal Barbie doll
look in fact there’s a huge variety in
labial size shape and color they’re just
like snowflakes no two are alike and
there’s certainly no one normal way for
them to look labia also served really
important functions like protecting the
entrance of the vagina and the urethra
from infection and they also enhance
sexual pleasure and lubrication during
intercourse so the surgical removal of
this tissue is not to be taken lightly
we know that girls and women who are
seeking labiaplasty if they’re told
about this great diversity and genital
appearance it doesn’t always make them
change their minds by this stage when
they’re considering surgery it’s
probably too late
their concerns about their labia have
probably been present since childhood or
adolescence and they’re now firmly
ingrained so if we want young girls to
feel positive
about their genital appearance we need
to start having these conversations from
a very young age as soon as girls start
to become curious about their own bodies
and certainly well before they’re
secretly harboring concerns that their
genital appearance may not be quite
right and let’s not forget that young
boys can benefit from these
conversations too research has shown
that receiving negative comments from
male sexual partners about genital
appearance can and does influence
women’s consideration of labiaplasty so
if young boys grow up with a basic
understanding of female genital Anatomy
they may be less critical of any future
female sexual partners so now I’ve
started you on this open conversation
pathway encouraging you to feel more
comfortable saying the word vagina but
now it’s time to teach you the more
correct term we sometimes mistakenly
call the entire genital region the
vagina but really this is just the
inside part the outside part that you
can see which includes the labia minora
and labia majora is actually called the
vulva so let’s start our first exercise
again shall we please repeat after me
save vulva and again vulva and one last
time with Gaston terrific so let’s start
talking about vulvas and not vaginas
thank you
you
you
in psychology when a person finds an
object or an experience scary or
difficult to face we gradually expose
them to this object so they get used to
it bit by bit and no longer fear it and
it seems that we as a society find it
very difficult to talk about women’s
genitals in an open and honest way so
I’d like us to try this exercise
together now please repeat after me say
vagina okay now that was easy that’s
great but I’m pretty sure that wasn’t
the case for everyone here so I’d like
to try it again please say vagina okay
so that time was probably a little bit
easier than the first but I’d like to
try it again just twice more please say
vagina vagina great so now you’re
feeling a bit more comfortable saying
the word vagina but what about an entire
conversation on this topic and that’s
where we as a society really struggle
and researchers think that this lack of
open discussion about a perfectly normal
body part particularly around how it’s
supposed to look may be fueling the
world’s fastest growing cosmetic surgery
trend
labiaplasty also known as designer
vagina surgery now in the united states
in the last five years alone there has
been a 500% increase in the number of
labiaplasty x’ performed and what this
procedure does is reduce the size of the
inner lips of the vagina known as the
labia minora so they no longer protrude
beyond the outer vaginal lips known as
the labia majora and what this does is
creates a smooth genital surface just
like a Barbie doll because as we
see Barbie has no genital features
whatsoever we also talked about this
surgery colloquially as turning an
outtie vagina into an innie vagina yes
these aren’t just terms reserved to
describe belly buttons anymore and while
the medical research is gradually
accumulating in this field because it’s
still a relatively new procedure we
still don’t know the long-term safety
and efficacy like what happens to these
women when they go through menopause and
their vaginal tissue naturally thins and
driers
not to mention that labiaplasty is
associated with some pretty serious side
effects like infection scarring and even
loss of sensation and so it’s pretty
concerning that at least some women
think that they’re perfectly healthy
outer labia minora tissue is so
unacceptable that it needs to be
permanently removed through surgery
in fact many girls and women have
fundamental misunderstandings about
their own genital appearance in case you
weren’t sure there are actually two
openings in the female genital region
there’s the urethra where urine flows
out and the vagina where menstrual blood
flows out they’re not the same passage
but is this fundamental misunderstanding
about basic anatomy really so surprising
we hardly encourage young girls to
explore or ask questions about their own
genital Anatomy instead on the rare
occasions that we do talk to them about
it we tend to use cute euphemisms like
lady garden or flower or even just down
there to avoid using the proper terms
and so young girls are getting the
message that this is a very private part
of their body that they need to keep
hidden and certainly need to avoid
touching and it’s no wonder that girls
are growing up thinking that their
genitals are shameful embarrassing and
sometimes even ugly
a young girl may become particularly
concerned about her labia minora
appearance when she goes through puberty
because her labia will start to grow
just like the rest of her body is
growing at this stage her labia may
appear more prominent and one side may
grow faster than the other this may
prompt her to look on the internet for
an explanation for this change in her
genital appearance rather than having a
potentially embarrassing conversation
with a family member friend or health
professional and rather than finding
reassurance about her genital appearance
on the Internet
she’s likely to come across labiaplasty
as a relatively simple and easy solution
to her perceived problems with her
genital appearance and sadly this is
meant that girls as young as 9 are
requesting labiaplasty message these
young girls are not receiving is that
their prominent and asymmetrical labia
at puberty may just balance out their
genital appearance is meant to shift
away from that pre-pubertal Barbie doll
look in fact there’s a huge variety in
labial size shape and color they’re just
like snowflakes no two are alike and
there’s certainly no one normal way for
them to look labia also served really
important functions like protecting the
entrance of the vagina and the urethra
from infection and they also enhance
sexual pleasure and lubrication during
intercourse so the surgical removal of
this tissue is not to be taken lightly
we know that girls and women who are
seeking labiaplasty if they’re told
about this great diversity and genital
appearance it doesn’t always make them
change their minds by this stage when
they’re considering surgery it’s
probably too late
their concerns about their labia have
probably been present since childhood or
adolescence and they’re now firmly
ingrained so if we want young girls to
feel positive
about their genital appearance we need
to start having these conversations from
a very young age as soon as girls start
to become curious about their own bodies
and certainly well before they’re
secretly harboring concerns that their
genital appearance may not be quite
right and let’s not forget that young
boys can benefit from these
conversations too research has shown
that receiving negative comments from
male sexual partners about genital
appearance can and does influence
women’s consideration of labiaplasty so
if young boys grow up with a basic
understanding of female genital Anatomy
they may be less critical of any future
female sexual partners so now I’ve
started you on this open conversation
pathway encouraging you to feel more
comfortable saying the word vagina but
now it’s time to teach you the more
correct term we sometimes mistakenly
call the entire genital region the
vagina but really this is just the
inside part the outside part that you
can see which includes the labia minora
and labia majora is actually called the
vulva so let’s start our first exercise
again shall we please repeat after me
save vulva and again vulva and one last
time with Gaston terrific so let’s start
talking about vulvas and not vaginas
thank you
you
you
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