Designer vaginas are everywhere (in the news that is) and most of the headlines are fixated on blaming the porn industry for an increasing number of women wanting labiaplasty surgery. But, fun as it is to blame porn for the root of all evil, how is this going to help us reach a solution? Blaming people for wanting more isn't going to stop the natural process of increasing demand that comes from greater affluence and awareness of what is available. The problem is that the NHS just can't afford to cough up any more and so some of the demand is going to have to be mopped up by the private sector. But taking anything out of the NHS and making it private is still such a taboo that we pretend its not happening, In doing so, we're cutting off our own noses to spite our faces, because by pretending the private sector isn't a necessary fact, we are effectively perpetuating this myth that it doesn't exist-which is how it has got away thus far with so little need for regulation.
Demand for all sorts of medical procedures is inevitably going to increase. Sure, exposure to pornographic images showing perfect vaginas may be one cause, but so too is increasing public education and awareness. For example, the procedure featured on Channel Four's Embarrassing Bodies when a woman who was bothered by the appearance of her labia saw Dr McKenna, who clearly told her that this was a 'normal variant'. Rightly or wrongly she then referred her to a cosmetic surgeon. Fair enough: the surgery isn't medically necessary but assuming the patient is competent with no psychiatric issues that need addressing first, the Dr's job is to provide the facts to the patient who can then weigh up the risks of cosmetic surgery against the perceived benefits and come to an informed decision. So what's the problem? Well, obviously: money. This country has believed that all healthcare should be free for so long that now it's too much of a taboo to talk about money, even though things are changing drastically. Embarrassing Bodies was too embarrassed to mention whether this procedure would have had to be funded privately. And even though purely cosmetic procedures aren't covered by the NHS, the NHS is too proud to come out and say so bluntly, so we still get websites such as http://www.healthcentre.org.uk/cosmetic-surgery/labiaplasty-nhs.html which point out:
"It is also possible to get a labiaplasty on the NHS even if there is little real medical need for one. This would be if the sizes of your labia are causing you real psychological damage such as depression or self-esteem problems."
The cost of such pride is, as a study published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 2009 revealed, an almost 70% increase in the number of women having labiaplasty on the NHS on the previous year.
Now the NHS is so bankrupt that all kinds of beneficial procedures, ranging from those aimed at tackling back pain and common hernias to bone-anchored hearing aids and varicose vein removal really will be taken off the NHS. Privatization is clearly happening. But if we allow it to happen through the back door, if we pretend it's not happening, how are we going to succeed in getting the private sector adequately regulated?
There's no point blaming the porn industry for making individuals increasingly demanding. There is no point hoping that individuals are going to become less demanding. There is a point in being brutally frank about what is and what isn't available for free and in openly recognising the private sector's role. That's the first step for us to actually try to regulate the private sector and make it safer.