Change is acoming
So this week in our Women’s studies class we read an essay by Karen Steindber called “Designer Vaginas.” Basically it was about women who have decided to follow the newest fad, labiaplasty, where the labia is altered usually making the inner labia smaller and sometimes injected them with fat to make them fuller. I really went back and forth on my feelings on this subject. First, i thought “Oh great, another body part for us to change as if we don’t have enough already.” I mean shouldn’t we be proud of who we are the way we are? How can we alter our whole self and still be original? Then I started thinking that maybe this is just another step to show how far the feminist movement has come. A women can say, “I don’t like my labia, or my vagina, or my lips, or breasts, etc.” and decide to change it and become something more and do it just like that. If that is the reasoning behind a woman’s desire to undego labiaplasty I don’t think I can fault her for that. But if she is doing if because she thinks that it will appeal to her man, or if her man tells her that she should get it, then I think this is wrong. I think the reasoning behind the desire is the most vital part of making the decision.
Oh YAY!! You are arguing with yourself, which is a really important aspect of critical thinking…albeit an annoying one.
You are right – the reasoning is the important thing. Then again (as you argue) there is the other aspect of this, that women can choose to change their appearance to suit themselves. But then there’s the concern that women are changing themselves to fit the Beauty Myth/Ideal, and that’s just wrong, and there you have it, you are engaged in a personal argument with yourself, mumbling to yourself while you stand in line at the bank.
Keep up the good work!