Word: sexualism
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...group donned giant cloth vulva costumes. New View, which was created in 2000 in response to the introduction of Viagra, is trying to fight what it calls "the medicalization of sex," the idea that there is a physical right and wrong when it comes to all things sexual. Says the group's leader Leonore Tiefer, a sexologist and psychologist at New York University: "Promoting a very narrow definition of what women's genitals ought to look like - even for those women who don't want surgery, it harms them." (See the Top 10 Medical Missteps...
...Susan Kolb, a plastic surgeon in Atlanta who has noticed a 20% increase in demand for female genital plastic surgery every year since 2004, says for many of her patients, most of whom are professionals in their 20s and 30s, the surgery is about gaining control over their sexuality. "In my experience, it is a healing procedure," she says. Because long labia can cause pain during sex or exercise, labiaplasty is sometimes covered by insurance. Data on these procedures is scarce, but Dr. Michael Goodman, a gynecologist who has a private practice in Davis, Calif., is preparing to submit...
...critics say the surgeries are more dangerous than the glossy advertising and glowing testimonials suggest. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued a committee opinion last year warning that women may experience scarring, chronic pain, obstetric risks or reduced sexual pleasure; a similar statement was issued in July by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Which is why the New View Campaign - with the endorsement of dozens of sex educators, doctors and psychologists from around the world - is demanding new regulations that would require the Federal Trade Commission's consumer protection division to monitor...
...found that 10 years after women get cosmetic breast implants, a disturbing trend emerges: they are nearly three times as likely to commit suicide as other women. With the even more intimate genital surgery, says Tiefer, the potential long-term consequences are troubling. "[Women] are projecting their anxiety about sexuality onto this one thing: 'If only I could get this fixed, then I would feel confident to be sexual,' " she says. "This is a complicated issue...
Even in the U.S., by promoting a narrow definition of what is normal, the surgeries may discourage women from grappling with a morass of cultural and personal forces shaping their body image and sexual identity. After all, one of the most common reasons women cite in seeking the surgery, some doctors say, is a negative comment from a disgruntled sexual partner. By contrast, women in steady relationships, according to a study published in the December 2008 issue of Current Sexual Health Reports, are far more likely than their single peers to feel comfortable with their natural appearance below the belt...