One child in Singapore was just 12, and she had a nose job, liposuction and eyelid surgery. Young girls wanted surgery on their genitals because they were distressed by how they look, according to BBC. Plastic surgeons say there has been an increase among teens requesting procedures over the past five years. This is despite warnings there are high risks involved as they are still developing physically.
People are praising Sex Education's groundbreaking 'vagina-shaming' episode
Girls as young as 15 seeking 'designer vaginas' issued warning booklets by doctors
International Women's Day is an annual chance to celebrate how far women have come in the fight for gender equality, and to take stock of the lengths still to go. With this in mind, Refinery29 asked our female readers what they think about their own vulvas and vaginas. We received 3, responses and the findings were worrying, at times concerning and encouraging all at once. The inside [of my vagina] is not a bright, vibrant pink that is often depicted in Caucasian porn. Porn also feeds body-image woes indirectly via partners' viewing habits. One woman cited "the rise of the vaginoplasty, and women trimming their labia minora" as the source of her insecurity, while another mentioned the prevalence of "advertising for surgical changes for vaginas".
It should be introduced as compulsory viewing in schools. While the crux of her new project, Womanhood , is taking pictures of female bodies, the accompanying Channel 4 documentary offers up conversations with trans women, gay women, virgins, older women and young women about pretty much everything to do with the vagina. There is a hideous amount of shame that still surrounds female genitalia. Many of the women photographed and interviewed in Vaginas admit feeling embarrassed or ill-informed about their own bodies. The camera work in Vaginas is exquisite.