Purveyors of so-called "designer vagina" surgery have long been criticized for making women feel insecure about a part of the body that a) varies naturally and b) is invisible most of the time. Now scientists have decided to investigate the claims made by websites offering plastic surgery for female genitals. Study authors Lih-Mei Liao, Neda Taghinejadi, and Sarah M. Creighton used an extremely simple procedure: They Googled "designer vagina." Then they looked at the top five U.K.-based websites that came up, and the top five U.S. ones. Here's a sampling of what they found:
1. Bad vaginas ruin relationships.
2. They can "put off" a partner.
3. Your shriveled vagina may reveal your age.
The U.K.'s Regency Clinic reportedly claimed "a woman might have a face lift and look really young until she goes to bed and a partner can see the evidence of ageing there." This language appears to have been removed.
4. But a new hymen will help you "hold your head high."
5. It is the "seal of approval" across many cultures.
6. Cutting the vagina with lasers will increase "frictional forces," improving sex.
7. Perhaps you'd like a breast and butt job at the same time.
8. Surgery will help you "feel like a real woman."
9. Unless you go to the wrong doctor, in which case you'll be scarred for life.
