Marie Claire Australia September 2017

70 marieclaire.com.au

ONE DOCTOR

IN SYDNEY

CLAIMS HE

PERFORMS THE

PROCEDURE

(^400)
TIMES A YEAR
FACT
partner enough to let him
see her naked, only to have
him comment that her vagi-
na looked “weird”.
“It broke my heart and
made me want the surgery
even more,” says Eloise. “It
wasn’t until I finally broke
up with him when I was 22
that I got it done.”
In the course of her
research into labiaplasty,
Eloise realised that her
vagina wasn’t actually
abnormal. Her GP also
reassured her that there
was nothing wrong with it.
But still, the psycholog-
ical damage wouldn’t heal. Eloise
booked in with a private cosmetic sur-
geon at the end of last year. A week later
she was sore and swollen, but back
at work. Within a month she was able
to have sex again.
“Nothing has been affected, it looks
so much better,” she says. “It’s a bit of re-
covery time, but the pain was gone after
a few weeks and, if anything, sex feels
better now.”
Eloise is part of a growing number
of women who are electing to undergo
labiaplasty surgery, despite the fact that
there’s no diagnosable medical issue
with their genitalia.
The procedure itself isn’t new – it’s
been around since the 1970s. But
between 2001 and 2013, the number of
Australian women claiming the surgery
on Medicare more than doubled from
640 to 1605 annually. One doctor in
Sydney claims he performs the proce-
dure 400 times a year.
The trend is reflected throughout
the developed world – in 2014, labi-
aplasty was the second-fastest-growing
cosmetic procedure in the US, beaten
only by buttock augmentation.
The Australian Classification Board
stipulates that magazines and films
sold and distributed in the “Unrestrict-
ed” category (not recommended for
people under 15) and below are not
allowed to feature protruding labia
minora. This means images of naked
women are photoshopped to get that
“tucked in” look – even if they’re to be
used for health or education purposes.
Similarly, swimwear shoots and
advertisements have to be trimmed and
edited to leave no trace of a “camel toe”
if they want to make it through the
classification process.
The rise in popularity of the Brazil-
ian wax doesn’t help, nor does the
increased access to online porn mean-
ing men are basing their expectations
on unrealistic images. A 2014 study
published in the journal Body Image
showed that a third of women wanting
labiaplasty were teased about their
vaginas, often by their partners. “If you
get negative comments from someone
you love in an intimate situation, that
stays with you,” says Dr Sharp.
Private clinics don’t need to report
data on the number of surgeries they
perform, so it’s impossible to obtain
official numbers on how many women
are getting labiaplasty. But GP Dr
Magdalena Simonis, who authored
the guidelines for the Royal Australian
College of General Practitioners
(RACGP) about how doctors should
respond to women requesting genital
surgery, suspects it’s far more common
than people realise. “It’s something GPs
are being flooded with,” she says.
A study conducted last year stated
one in three GPs are now fielding
requests for the procedure from girls
under 1 8 .† Yet 50 per cent of the doctors
said these girls had diagnosed or undi-
agnosed mental health issues. Since
October 2016 the Medical Board of
Australia has advised that girls under 18
who want labiaplasty should receive
mandatory counselling, in addition to
a cooling off period of three months.
By the end of 2014, so
many women were request-
ing the surgery that the
Australian government
stopped it being claimable
on Medicare or private
health funds – unless it
was deemed medically
necessary by a doctor.
Instead, women now
have to pay anywhere
between $3000 and $9000

• but even with this price
  tag, evidence suggests
  demand has only grown.
  Most women want the
  surgery for similar reasons
  to Eloise – their inner labia
  are large, uneven, or hang
  down outside their outer
  vaginal lips, and they’re un-
  happy with how this looks.
  Jennifer*, a 47-year-old mother-of-
  two, said she wanted the surgery ever
  since she had a Brazilian wax and
  noticed her shape more clearly.
  “I wish I’d had it done ages ago,” she
  explains. “It’s definitely helped me feel
  more confident in the bedroom.”
  But the reality is that an “outie”
  vagina is completely normal – about
  half of all women have labia minora that
  are longer than their labia majora.

WHAT IS “NORMAL”?

Labia come in a range of colours and

shapes, and most aren’t symmetrical.

A 2005 study published in the Interna-

tional Journal of Gynecology &

Obstetrics found that women’s inner

vaginal lips could be anywhere between

2cm to 10cm long and have a width of

0.7cm to 5cm. The same paper showed

that most labiaplasties are performed

on perfectly normal tissue.

According to Dr Gemma Sharp,

a researcher from Flinders University

who conducted her PhD on the rise

of labiaplasty surgeries, most women

go through their lives without seeing

another un-retouched vagina.

NATAGE A006

hisself-styled‘‘secretshow’’,a

transientmuseum-styledisplay

thatwasmountedandremovedin

littlemorethananhour.

WhenLushwasinvitedtobe

partofaBanksyproject,he

thoughtitmighthavebeenahoax.

‘‘Isentbackanemailtalking

placehehasdescribedas‘‘afamily

themeparkunsuitableforchil-

dren,afestivalofart,amusements

andentry-levelanarchism’’.

Fifty-eightartistsfromaround

theworld–includingJennyHolzer

andDamienHirst–havemade

worksforit.

as‘‘recycledartprints’’.

AtDismaland,hesays,theyare

‘‘hangingrightnexttoDamien

Hirst,it’sprettycrazy’’.

Hehasalreadyfelttheimpactof

beingaDismalandartist–salesare

booming.

‘‘I’veworkedallyearonawhole

theweekonInstagram(hehas

morethan53,900followers)with

thetimeanddate,butnotthe

location.

OnFridayevening,he

announcedthatitwasatHosier

Lane.Agroupofpeoplesetupa

temporarygallery-styledisplayof

WhatwasdisplayedatHosier

LaneincludedtheworkLushhas

justsold.‘‘IthoughtImightaswell

showitbeforeitgoesintothe

abyss.’’

By6.10pm,ithadallbeen

clearedaway.

‘‘Alittlebitoffun,’’hesays.

Cosmetic labia surgery fears raised

Amy Corderoy

Womenarebeing‘‘upsold’’invasive

genitalsurgeriesbyunscrupulous

cosmeticclinicsthatdonotproperly

informthemabouttherisks,or

whetherthesurgeryisevenneces-

sary,healthexpertssay.

Whiledatashowspublichealth

authoritieshavemanagedtolower

ratesofpubliclyfundedlabiaplasty,

whichinvolvescuttingawaypartsof

thelabiaminora,theprivatesectoris

stilla‘‘wildwest’’,accordingtoclini-

ciansworkinginthearea.

TheRoyalCollegeofGeneral

PractitionersinJulyreleasedanew

guidefordoctorsontreatingpa-

tientswhorequestgenitalsurgery,

includingrecommendingthatthey

bedirectedtoimagesoffemalegen-

italiathathavenotbeendigitallyal-

tered,suchastheonlinedatabase

TheLabiaLibrary.

Italsowarnspurelycosmeticfe-

malegenitalsurgerycouldactually

fitthelegalcriteriaforfemalegenital

mutilation,areligiousandcultural

practiceamongsomegroupsthatis

bannedacrossAustralia.

Medicaredatashowsa28percent

declineinthenumberofsubsidised

labiaplastiesinthepastfinancial

year,afternewruleswereputin

placetoensurewomenwerenotun-

dergoingtheprocedureunnecessar-

ily.Womenwhoapplytohavelabia-

plastymustnowprovideanexpert

reviewpanelwithphotographsof

theirgenitalia,sotheycanbeas-

sessedforunusualphysicalsymp-

tomsthatneedrepair,ortoldthat

theyfallwithintherangeofnormal

variation.MagdalenaSimonis,who

wrotethecollegeguidelines,said

publiclyfundedgenitalsurgerywas

just‘‘thetipoftheiceberg’’.

‘‘Privatecosmeticsurgeonsdon’t

needtolisttheirdataandthey

don’t,’’shesaid.‘‘Therearesome

plasticsurgeonswhosaytheysee

100patientsayear,butthenthere

arebigcosmeticfranchiseswhosay

theyaredoingthousands.’’

DrSimonissaiditwasquestion-

ablewhetherallwomenundergoing

genitalsurgerywereactuallybeing

giventheinformationaboutthe

rangeofappearancesthatwerenor-

mal,andtherisksofsurgery,which

theyneededtogiveinformedcon-

sent.Insomecases,womenwerebe-

ingpressuredintomoresurgeryto

theclitoralhoodbecausedoctors

hadremovedsomuchoftheirlabia

thattheyneededto‘‘balance’’outthe

otherareas.

FrancesD’Arcy-Tehan,acoun-

sellingpsychologistandclinicalsex-

ologist,saiditwasstrangethatfe-

malegenitalmutilationwasbanned,

butgenitalcuttingwasOKfor‘‘Susie

fromNorthSydney’’.

‘‘Idon’tthinkwomenhereare

reallygettingthefullstory,’’shesaid.

‘‘This[surgery]isstillforcultural

reasons,butit’sjustforanidealim-

age[ratherthanreligion].’’

Shesaidmanypatientswerenot

warnedthatcuttingtheirlabiacould

reducesexualfunctioning.

‘‘Thelabiaminoraisahighlyerot-

icandsensitivetissueandit’sim-

portantforarousal,’’shesaid.‘‘It’s

normaltohaveprotrusionandwhen

youarearoused,itactuallygetsen-

gorged’’.

MsD’Arcy-Tehansaidthesurgery

industrywasa‘‘wildwest’andthere

wereanecdotalreportsofwomen

seekingrepairsforbotchedtreat-

ment.

Shesaidwomenmightseekthe

surgerysotheycouldparticipatein

transientfashiontrendsfortight

clothesorsmallbikinis,becausethey

hadremovedtheirpubichairand

wereuncomfortablewiththesightof

theirlabia,orbecausetheyortheir

partnerhadonlyseenhighlystylised

labiadepictedinpornography.

‘‘Onestudyfoundabout30per

centofwomenwhohadlabiaplasty

wereteasedbytheirboyfriendabout

theappearanceoftheirlabia.’’

8 AUGUST 30 2015 SUNDAY CANBERRA TIMES

canberratimes.com.au

Retirement is being put on hold.

significant barriers and risks for
older workers, such as lack ofcoverage by workers compensa-
tion and discrimination by bothemployers and fellow workers.
And experts warn massive
increases in workforce participa-tion by both older men and women
still won’t be enough to supportour fast aging population.
A 20-year analysis by Mark
WMelbourne Institute of Appliedooden and Roger Wilkins, of the
Social and Economic Research,
found that 45 per cent of women

aged 60-64 were in the labour

force in 2013, up from just15.2 per cent in 1993. For women

aged 55-59, the jump was from

36.8 per cent to 65.3 per cent. Forwomen older than 65, the increase

was from 2.2 per cent to 8 per cent

over the 20 years.

48.3 per cent to 62.5 per cent.

Mr Wooden said the boom in

older women working was fuelledby social changes, with the current

generation of women over 55

among the first to have the expect-ation of a long-term career. ‘‘It’s no

longer the expectation that womenwill be housewives or will work in

their early years, only to drop outwhen they have kids. We have this

new generation of women whohave much stronger attachment to

the workforce,’’ he said.

enough to keep them for another25 years. A lot of people feel

healthier and a lot of people wantto keep working. Not everyone

thinks retirement will be all that

great,’’ he said.But Mr Wooden said many older

workers were disadvantaged byemployers who held onto negative

stereotypes, such as the idea thatolder people were less adaptable

to change or less confident online.

worker will stay for longer but‘‘Employers think younger

discrimination were about treat-

ment in the workplace or whiletrying to get work.

ors Australia has called for theThe lobby group National Seni-

federal government to addressgaps in workers compensation

coverage for older people, as wellas difficulty getting income protec-

tion insurance and complicatedred tape around claiming a part-

pension while working part-time.

Patients sold

genital surgery

they ‘don’t need’

By Amy Corderoy

Wive genital surgeries by unscrupu-omen are being ‘‘upsold’’ invas-

lous cosmetic clinics that do notproperly inform them about the

risks, or whether the surgery iseven necessary, health experts say.

While data shows public health

authorities have managed to lowerrates of publicly funded labiaplas-

ty, which involves cutting awayparts of the labia minora, the

private sector is still a ‘‘wild west’’,

according to clinicians working inthe area.

Practitioners in July released aThe Royal College of General

new guide for doctors on treating

patients who request genital sur-gery, including recommending

that they be directed to images offemale genitalia that have not

been digitally altered

female genital surgery could actu-It also warns purely cosmetic

ally fit the legal criteria for femalegenital mutilation, a religious and

cultural practice among some

groups that is banned acrossAustralia.

cent decline in the number ofMedicare data shows a 28 per

subsidised labiaplasties in the pastfinancial year, after new rules

were put in place to ensure womenwere not undergoing the proced-

ure unnecessarily.

publicly funded labiaplasty mustWomen who apply to have

now provide an expert reviewpanel with photographs of their

genitalia, so they can be assessedfor unusual physical symptoms

that need repair, or told that theyfall within the range of normal

variation.Magdalena Simonis, who wrote

the college guidelines, said pub-licly funded genital surgery was

just ‘‘the tip of the iceberg’’.‘‘Private cosmetic surgeons

don’t need to list their data andthey don’t,’’ she said. ‘‘There are

some plastic surgeons who saythey see 100 patients a year, but

then there are big cosmetic fran-

chises who say they are doingthousands.’’

undergo years of training to qual-While plastic surgeons must

ify, cosmetic procures are lessregulated and may be done by

practitioners with varying levels oftraining and expertise.

Dr Simonis said it was question-

able whether all women undergo-ing genital surgery were actually

being given the information aboutthe range of appearances that

were normal, and the risks ofsurgery, which they needed to give

informed consent.

tion from her doctor, she’s going to‘‘If she doesn’t get that informa-

get it from the internet.’’

In some cases, women were

being pressured into more extens-ive surgery to the clitoral hood

because doctors had removed somuch of their labia that they

needed to ‘‘balance’’ out the otherareas.

performing these surgeries are not‘‘Some of the clinicians that are

acting in the best interests opatients,’’ she said. f

Frances D’Arcy-Tehan, a coun-

selling psychologist and clinicalsexologist who is completing a PhD

at the University of Sydney ongenital perceptions and surgery

among Australian women, said itwas strange that female genital

mutilation was banned, but genitalcutting was OK for ‘‘Susie from

North Sydney’’.

‘‘I don’t think women here are

really getting the full story,’’ shesaid. ‘‘This [surgery] is still for

cultural reasons, but it’s just for anideal image [rather than

religion].’’

She said many patients were not

warned that cutting their labiacould reduce sexual functioning.

erotic and sensitive tissue and it’s‘‘The labia minora is a highly

important for arousal,’’ she said.‘‘It’s normal to have protrusion

and when you are aroused, itactually gets engorged’’.

gery industry was a ‘‘wild west’’Ms D’Arcy-Tehan said the sur-

and there were anecdotal reports

of women seeking repairs forbotched treatment.

surgery so they could participateShe said women might seek the

in transient fashion trends fortight clothes or small bikinis,

because they had removed theirpubic hair and were uncomfort-

able with the sight of their labia, orbecause they or their partner had

only seen highly stylised labiadepicted in pornography.

■‘Vaginalrejuvenationsurgerymay

promptmisery’-Page21

Craft ACT artist-in-residence Ruth Hingston in her studio.

Photo: JAY CRONAN

Textile artist connects with fabric of nature

By Mary Lynn Mather

Stitching things together is what

textile practitioner Ruth Hingstondoes best, though her latest

challenge has given her pause

for thought.One of the 2015 Craft ACT

artists-in-residence, she has beensearching for creative ways to link

the National Archives of Australia

with Namadgi National Park.Both are partners in this year’s

program, which includes afortnight of research and another

spent in a cottage in the bushland

area that makes up 46 per cent ofthe capital territory.

how people live in specific‘‘My main direction is looking at

landscapes,’’ Ms Hingston said.

What intrigued her was ‘‘how

humans use or exploit theenvironment for their own

purposes and, in doing so, alter thelandscape’’.

‘‘connect with your nature’’,The theme of the residency is

arising from the work of the ACT

Parks and Conservation Service.For Ms Hingston, it has evoked

‘‘the light and dark sides of humannature’’, especially in relation to

place. Her aim was to be mindfulof her surroundings during the

residency and to appreciate theflora and fauna.

recycling and gatheredThough she was committed to

‘‘everything and anything’’ for her‘‘mixed media bits and pieces’’, she

has promised ‘‘not to takeanything from the national park’’.

National Archives’ records ofMs Hingston also found the

Canberra’s early developmentinteresting.

National Archives of Australia

director-general David Frickersaid this was the first time the

archives had been involved in theproject and it was a pleasure to

bring the collection to a broaderaudience. ‘‘We feel honoured to

have such talented artists delving

into our resources and discoveringtreasures to enhance their works,’’

he said.

Hingston often uses maps as aAs an astute observer, Ms

starting point. While many of herintricate designs reference real

streets and formal plans, they areimaginative interpretations, rich

in textures and layers.

in it,’’ she said of her process. ‘‘The‘‘There’s always a level of fiction

embroideries are my way ofstorytelling.’’

professional member, she willAn accredited Craft ACT

launch the program on Thursdaywith international artist-in-

residence Jodie Hatcher.

Ms Hingston’s drawing workshopOne of several public events is

at Namadgi’s Visitors Centre onSaturday, September 26.

Greens want inquiry on ‘shocking’ 7-Eleven reports

By Kate Stanton

The Greens will seek a special

hearing of the Senate inquiry intothe working visa program

following a joint Fairfax Media-FourCornersinvestigation into

the possible exploitation of

7-Eleven workers.The investigation found evid-

ence that up to two-thirds of7-Eleven stores are paying their

workers well below award rates,

with one former employee sayinghe once made just $10 an hour.

The Greens’ industrial relations

spokesman Adam Bandt describedthe reports as ‘‘shocking’’.

always aware of their rights in‘‘People on working visas aren’t

Australia and this is leading toexploitation,’’ Mr Bandt said.

ence that employers doctored timeThe investigation found evid-

sheets and rosters so foreign stu-

dents could work longer than thepermitted 40 hours a fortnight.

One 7-Eleven franchisee held an

employee’s passport until the com-pany intervened.

light on how employers can takeMr Bandt said the report shed

advantage of overseas studentworkers. ‘‘Too much exploitation

is happening under our current

system of visa and workplacelaws,’’ he said.

1 in 3

GPs ARE NOW

FIELDING

REQUESTS

FOR THE

PROCEDURE

FROM GIRLS

UNDER THE

AGE OF 18†