I Drive a Vulva
In 19th Century England, there were debates as to whether clitoridectomy could cure women of "illnesses" such as hysteria and "excessive" masturbation. Clitoridectomy continued to be practiced for these reasons until the 1950s in the USA. The hidden reason for this mutilation was not hysteria or hygiene, but to prevent masturbation and control of female sexuality.
This western interference with female sexual organs continues. Menopause is considered abnormal. Hormone pills and patches are widespread. And now we have ‘designer vaginas.’ (The term itself is a misnomer. The vagina is the passage to the uterus. Inside, unseen). It is the vulva that is now found wanting. Apparently there is a beauty standard for how our vulvae should look. The outer labia should spread over and completely cover the unspeakable pink bits inside. Anything else is ‘gross’, ‘wrong’, a ‘bacon sandwich’ and only plastic surgery can fix it.
Where do these notions come from? Certainly not from individual men – most of those I have spoken to found the notion mystifying – but from the porn industry, some quarters within the media, and the medical profession. Businesses such as the Manhattan Centre for Vaginal Surgery have large advertising budgets to convince women that their non-generic sexual organs are as big as buckets and their vulva as ugly as sin. And so some women ‘consent’ to these procedures.
Not only is this surgery unnecessary, but is also destructive, sometimes leading to painful intercourse and catastrophic childbirths. This plastic surgery is simply the modern face of the age old ritual of female genital mutilation.
It’s time to take back control. For my daughters and their friends I make these celebratory art pieces.
Let us drive our own vulvas!
This western interference with female sexual organs continues. Menopause is considered abnormal. Hormone pills and patches are widespread. And now we have ‘designer vaginas.’ (The term itself is a misnomer. The vagina is the passage to the uterus. Inside, unseen). It is the vulva that is now found wanting. Apparently there is a beauty standard for how our vulvae should look. The outer labia should spread over and completely cover the unspeakable pink bits inside. Anything else is ‘gross’, ‘wrong’, a ‘bacon sandwich’ and only plastic surgery can fix it.
Where do these notions come from? Certainly not from individual men – most of those I have spoken to found the notion mystifying – but from the porn industry, some quarters within the media, and the medical profession. Businesses such as the Manhattan Centre for Vaginal Surgery have large advertising budgets to convince women that their non-generic sexual organs are as big as buckets and their vulva as ugly as sin. And so some women ‘consent’ to these procedures.
Not only is this surgery unnecessary, but is also destructive, sometimes leading to painful intercourse and catastrophic childbirths. This plastic surgery is simply the modern face of the age old ritual of female genital mutilation.
It’s time to take back control. For my daughters and their friends I make these celebratory art pieces.
Let us drive our own vulvas!